


Beyond the Moon

by Jacksonofabitch



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Gen, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo 2017, Some Romance, Swearing, eventual gay character, gonna be great, space, the worst summary ever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-01-28 03:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 66
Words: 65,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12596884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacksonofabitch/pseuds/Jacksonofabitch
Summary: Karter, a teen from Earth, is whisked away into the middle of an intergalactic empire and placed at the very front of the rebellion. Alongside his companions, he must learn to stand up and fight with others.Or die.





	1. Prologue: The Fall of the Earth

The sky was on fire.

There was smoke and screaming and the ground was shaking. It was the end of the world, I knew it. And here I thought it would end because my mom saw the D on my report card, but I guess aliens beat her to it.

I was at home when it started, waiting for my brother to come back from the store when it sounded like the very universe was ripping apart. I later learned that was their ships entering our atmosphere, guns already blazing to life to kill any resistance before it could even be formed.

“Get away from the window,” mom shouted at me, reaching to drag me back from where I was staring out into the street. There was chaos, people running in terror, cars swerving down the road, and very, very distantly, if I craned my neck far enough, I thought I could see a line of people marching through the street. “Karter, now.”

She was nearly in tears from panic, holding it together for the little ones. My cousins had no idea what was happening and clung to her desperately, their tiny hands straining the fabric as she held them.

“Knox is still out there.”

“He’ll be fine. He’s a smart boy. He’ll come home soon enough.” She had said this before, three times in fact, in the past ten minutes since it all started. Each time she sounded like she believed it less. “Come away from the window.”

“But—” I cut off, my eyes catching sight of that stupid, dark purple hat Knox always wore. It bobbed above the bushes alongside a house a block and a half down the street before disappearing again. “Ma, it’s him. I saw him!”

Mom physically relaxed, letting a breath. “See? I told you Knox would be fine. He’s always been such a clever boy.”

She kept talking, but all my focus was where that hat had disappeared to.

And the two human-shaped figures clothed in black marching towards it.


	2. That Guy who Swears a Lot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's nothing worse than being stuck in a cell with someone who won't stop shouting.

“Get your hands off me, you stupid fucker!”

The outraged cry echoed off the metal walls of the prison. There was the sound of scuffling and I walked over to the door of the cell to look out through the small window. None of the other prisoners even looked up, barely moving at all as they sat in their despair. It was too dark to see anything outside, but I could hear the sounds getting closer.

A sudden bang on the door had me scuttling back in surprise. After a moment, it jerked open and someone was thrown inside. He tumbled across the floor to stop right in front of me. Instantly, he was back on his feet and sprinting for the door, only to slam uselessly against it a moment after the lock bolted back into place. “Let me out of here, assholes!” he screamed, banging against it as hard he could.

“Calm down, it’s okay. You’re safe,” I said, slowly approaching the distressed person.

The guy whipped around and from the dim light, I could tell they were human. “‘Safe?’ What the hell about this whole situation says safe to you?” He turned back to the door, shaking it and running his hands over seams, searching for some weakness. “Fuck, what the hell is going on?”

“Aliens, dude.”

“No shit.” Giving up on the door, the guy started pacing up and down the center of the room. The other prisoners continued to ignore them, keeping close to the walls they huddled against. “Where are we? Is there some sort of escape plan? Anything?”

“Don’t know. I just got here.” I held out my hand. “My name’s Karter. What’s yours?”

The other human stared at him. “Who cares? I need to get out of here.” He went back to the door, banging on. “Hey! Is someone there? Let me out of here!”

“Hey, hey, dude, you need quiet down or they’re gonna come in here.”

“Good.”

“No, seriously, dude, it’s not a good thing.” I winced when the guy continued to pound on the door. “Hey, you’re gonna get us in trouble.” Moving forward, I grabbed his arm, trying to drag him away. “Dude, I’m not joking around.”

He jerked away, shoving me back. “Yeah, well I’m not joking around about getting out of here. Either help or get out of my way.”

“I am trying to help if you’d just listen!” My voice grew louder as I spoke, getting back to my feet. “Dude, stop. I’m not kidding! You don’t know what’ll happen!”

“I’ll fuckin’ get out of here is what’ll happen!” He banged on the door one final time before I managed to drag him back. The sound echoed down the hall, and then there was a returning thud. “Finally.”

“Oh, no,” I whispered. “Shit, shit, shit, dude. Come here.” I tried to pull him towards the back of the cell. Around us the other prisoners were finally moving, squirming farther back, as far away from the door as they could get.

The guy struggled, slipping free of my hold. “Fuck off. This is my fuckin’ chance.”

Loud footsteps were coming down the hall, growing louder with each step. Each thud made my heart jump, and I stumbled after the guy as he ran for the door, desperate to keep him back. “Dude, please, just don’t. It’s not gonna be good. Dude!”

He crouched down next to the door. “Fuck off and shut up. I know what I’m doing.” He pushed me behind him. “Stay low,” he ordered.

The footsteps were just outside the door now and it felt like my heart was ready to jump out of my throat. In front of me, the guy seemed perfectly calm, entirely focused on the door. The footsteps paused outside and then the door was sliding open. The other human sprung forward darting out into the hallway and without thinking I followed him.

It felt like I walked into an iron bar. The guard had reached out both arms, trapping the both of us on effectively. The enormous, inhuman hands wrapped around our necks while we were still struggling to breathe.

“Escaping?” I grasped at the hands around my neck, pulling at them weakly as I tried to see the creature holding me. It was hard to make out the details, but there was something mechanical in the way it moved and in its soft whispering voice. When it turned to look down at me, a red eye flashing brightly. “Think again.”

“Fuck… off…” The other guy grunted out. He kicked at the tall alien, only to find his leg was too short by several inches. “I’ll kill you.”

“Unlikely.” The alien’s gaze turned back to him, considering. “Troublemaker. Earth is full of them. Put with the others, I think. That will be good.”

He began walking down the hall, half-dragging us by our throats. Behind us, the cell door slammed shut. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen someone get taken from the cell in the few hours I had been here, and it was always followed by screaming.

 _Why the fuck did I even bother trying to save this asshole?_ I thought to myself. But I couldn’t have just stood there and watched him get dragged off to who knows where. I tried to look around, sure that there must be some way to get out of this.

We were approaching the end of the corridor now and I squirmed hard in the alien’s grip, dragging my feet in an effort to slow our progress. From the corner of my eye, I could see the other guy doing the same. The alien simply lifted us higher, cutting off our air supply as he easily continued down the hall.

At the end of the corridor, there was an opening in the wall, leading down into a dark abyss. Slowly, the angry swear guy was lifted up and, with some difficulty, placed into the chute. And then he was dropped, falling away into the shadows.

I stared, at where he had been, terrified. Then I felt the ground fall away from my feet and darkness was engulfing me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like how this chapter came out, but it'll do for now. I promise they will get better. 
> 
> Feel free to contact me on IG @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofb1tch or just leave a comment below. I love talking to people and the encouragement is always super welcome.
> 
> See you tomorrow for the next chapter~~


	3. Down Below

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Through the darkness and into the light of knowledge (and backstory)

_“Knox!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. I could see him, just ahead of me, surrounded by the tall figures that were too tall and too strange to be human. He was fighting, of course, but there were so many. He didn’t have a chance. More of the aliens crowded around him and I lost sight._

_I kept running forward, sure that if I could just reach him, I could save him. That we could both go back home, and all would be okay again._

_Then the aliens were turning towards me and their arms were reaching towards me instead…_

I dropped from the chute suddenly, hitting the hard floor with a dull thud. Groaning, I sat up, looking around me.

The room was better lit than my previous cell, with far fewer people in it. The guy from before was there, as well as a tall, buff man crouching near him and shorter boy crouching in a corner. The walls were a white-grey color, creating a perfect cube around us. There was nothing else in the room but us.

“What’s going on?” I asked, rubbing my head.

“Aliens captured us,” the man said. I had to resist rolling my eyes before remembering I had said nearly the exact same thing when asked earlier. “My name’s Zion. That’s Emic in the corner.”

“I’m Karter.”

“Charlie Fane.” I blinked in surprise when the guy from earlier answered. “The hell you lookin’ at?” he snapped when he noticed me staring. “What the hell is this place?” Charlie looked around, distressed. “Where’s the door?”

“There isn’t one that we’ve seen,” Zion answered.

Charlie got to his feet, unsteady. “How do we get out if there’s no door?”

“There isn’t one that we’ve seen,” Zion repeated. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t a door. It’s just well-hidden.”

It wasn’t enough to pacify him though, and he was back to pacing. “What if they just leave us in here to die? They basically put us in a garbage chute. We tried to escape so now they’re just going to kill us.”

“Dude, Charlie, cool it,” I said. “You’re freaking out Emic.” He was. Emic was curling further into himself, holding his head. “I doubt they’d throw us down here just to kill us. They have way more efficient ways to do that.” I walked over to the scared boy, crouching down before him. “Hey, you okay?”

Emic’s head jerked up as he flattened back against the wall in fear. Bright pink eyes stared at me from beneath a curly curtain of what I had thought was blond hair, but was actually just a very light shade of pink. His features were a touch too perfect and delicate to be human, lips too full and eyes too big. He looked like a pastel elf. Or a fairy? Either way, this guy was an alien.

“I’m fine,” he squeaked out. He tried to smile, revealing sharp fangs. “I’m Emic.”

“My name’s Karter.”

His eyes drifted to where Charlie was still pacing, muttering under his breath. “Is he your friend? He’s very tense right now.”

I shook my head. “No, we just met. He tried to escape, and I didn’t want him to die, so I tried to escape with him.” I frowned. “It sounds dumb when I say it like that.”

“A little.” We shared a laugh and Emic uncurled a little, relaxing his legs. “I tried to escape too, but they caught me when I was trying to get a pod to start.”

“You know how to fly one?” I vaguely remembered the pods they used to move the prisoners from Earth to the large ships in orbit. They had seemed incredibly complicated, with hundreds of buttons and lights and confusing screens. Emic nodded. “How’d you get out of the cell?”

“I happened to have an electric disrupter on me when I was captured. I used it to unlock the door. After some modifications of course.” He smiled again, proud of himself. “I’m an engineer. Or at least I was before I ended up here.”

Zion had walked closer, listening to the conversation at a distance. “Do you know where we are? Or who it was that captured us?”

The pink-haired alien nodded. “They’re called Tearns. They’re an artificial race that appeared centuries ago. Since then they’ve been spreading across the universe like a plague, taking over every planet they come across.” He shivered. “My people have been working to stop their progress since they were forced to flee our home planet many years ago. That’s what I was doing when I was captured.”

“So, there is some sort of organized resistance?” Charlie demanded to know.

Emic flinched slightly. “I--sort of? I was only allowed to join recently. This was my first assignment. And I failed…” His eyes shone with emotion.

“Perfect,” Charlie scoffed, crossing his arms. “How the hell are we supposed to get out of here?”

Zion raised an eyebrow at him. “With some patience, I imagine. We need a thought-out plan. Not just some mad dash through the door.” Charlie looked down at his scuffed boots, mouth turned down in a scowl, but he didn’t say anything. “Karter’s right. They wouldn’t bother waiting for us to die down here. There has to be some way out. We just have to wait for something to happen.”

“And in the meantime, we’ll get who knows how far away from Earth.”

“At least, we’ll be alive,” I said.

“Shut the fuck up, you useless shit.” Charlie marched off to the opposite corner and sat down, arms crossed and refusing to look in anyone’s direction.

Zion sighed. “He’s a real piece of work that one.”

“Seems to like you though. Well, respect you anyways.” I glanced at the angry human. He couldn’t be much older than me, in his late teens, dressed all in black clothes like he’d never fully escaped his goth phase. His hair was black, contrasting against the pale shade of the tiny bits of skin I could see. Even covered up as he was, it was easy to see that he was in shape, but not nearly as ripped as Zion. That guy was freakin’ shredded. “He was pretty quick about making an escape though. Even if it was kinda dumb.”

“He’s kinda intense though,” Emic mumbled, eyeing him wearily. “It’s scary.”

“I can fuckin’ hear ya’ll talking about me, ya know!”

I cracked a smile. “Well, there’s not a lot to talk about.”

“You wanna die?”

“It’s a joke.”

“So’s your face.” A laugh bubbled out of me. “Why the fuck are you laughing? Did you hit your head when you landed or something? Fuckin’ idiot.” He grumbled the last part under his breath, turning away from us again.

Emic peered at me curiously. “Did you hit your head? I don’t think it’s normal to laugh at your face being called a joke.”

I waved off the concern as I tried to stop laughing. “No, it’s just that was an awful comeback. It reminded me of my brother, I guess. He always used it when we were teasing each other.”

“Your brother called your face a joke often?” Emic’s forehead crinkled as he tried to understand. “Does he dislike you?”

“No, no, that’s not it.” I tried to explain how it was just all meant playfully, but from the confusion blatant on his face, he wasn’t understanding. “It’s a human thing I guess.”

He smiled, nodding. “Earth sounds like an interesting place.” Emic’s expression saddened before his head jerked up, scanning the room as his pointed ears twitched. “Something’s happening.”

We were all on our feet in an instant. Emic’s hand curled in the back of my shirt as he poked his head around from behind me. On one wall below where the chute had dropped us, a tall rectangular outline was forming. There was a pause of dead silence.

The door opened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, this is literally the first draft and I'm barely beta-ing these, so please forgive my mistakes.
> 
> Thank you to anyone who reads this.
> 
> Feel free to message me on Instagram @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofab1tch or leave a comment down below. I love to hear from you!


	4. Golden Guy to the Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope is a golden light and Charlie does not approve.

Emic squeaked, hiding completely behind me and shaking with fear. Charlie and Zion both went into a fighting stance in front of us, prepared for whatever was going to come through that door. My heartbeat was racing as fast as my thoughts as I stood there frozen and terrified.

There was another pause and for a moment I thought that perhaps the door just opened on its own somehow. And then another alien popped his head out of the doorway.

He was different than the others, not nearly so tall or threatening. This alien was about the same height as Zion, but slim and thin. His skin had a metallic gold sheen, and his eyes were completely bronze without an iris or pupil, reminding me of old Greek statues of gods. His hair was short and composed of tight curls a few shades darker than his skin. He wore some sort of dark blue robe that floated around him when he moved.

“Ah, hello, prisoners. How are you?” He asked in a cheery voice.

Charlie glared at him. “How do you think we are? We’re fuckin’ prisoners. What the hell do you want? Who are you?”

The alien blinked at him. “Of course, where are my manners? My name is Milo. I am a high priest of the Lacarean Order.”

“Oh, gods,” Emic whimpered.

“Is that bad?” I asked out of the corner of my mouth.

“It means we’re going to Lacarea, so yes.” He swallowed thickly. “We’re going to be turned into Tearns.”

Charlie bunched his fists again. “Like hell we are. You just try it, asshole!” he shouted at the high priest.

Milo looked shocked for a moment before recovering with a little laugh. “Oh, no, no, no. That’s not why I’m here. That’s not it at all.” He beamed at them, showing startlingly white teeth. “I’m here to save you.”

“You’re part of the resistance?” Zion asked.

“Well, not exactly…” Milo answered. “But no matter. We have limited time before they discover my betrayal and we must be far away when they do. Please follow me.” He turned and walked back through the door.

The four of us exchanged glances. “We’re not really trusting that guy, are we?” Charlie asked. “He’s working for the guys who captured us.”

“Technically the Lacarean Order was one of the first groups to be captured. It’s through their power that the Tearns came to be yes, but they only did because Savik forced them to.”

“Who the fuck is Savik?”

Zion shook his head. “That’s a question for later. Do you think it’s possible that he means to help us?”

The pink haired teen considered it. “I wouldn’t say it’s unheard of for one of the order to defect, but I don’t think any of them have ever succeeded.”

“Great.”

“Charlie, calm your tits, please.” He glared at me. “I think it’s our best chance.”

Emic nodded and Zion turned to Charlie. “I agree. You comin’ or staying?”

He stared at us, considering. “Fine. But if I die, it’s your fuckin’ fault,” he said, sending another icy look my way before stalking to the door. “Oi, hurry it up.”

“I think he’s starting to like me.”

Zion huffed a laugh. “C’mon. We need to be serious.” He followed after Charlie, me and Emic hot on his heels.

The corridor was dark like the one outside the cell, and I could barely make out the figures of Charlie and the slightly glittering one that was Milo. We hurried to catch up. Emic go of the back of my shirt in favor of taking my hand, making it easier to move.

“Was there some delay?” Milo asked when we caught up with him. “I didn’t realize humans became attached to their environment so quickly.”

“Not human,” Emic whispered under his breath, barely loud enough for me to hear it. I squeezed his hand.

“What’s the plan?” Zion asked as we walked along the long corridor. There were doors at regular intervals, but they all appeared to be empty. _How many people can be held on this ship?_

“We are heading to the pod bay. From there we will steal one and head for Lacarea. I know of an abandoned temple in a remote region that the Tearns will have difficulty following us into.” He paused. “The only problem is that we may have difficulty getting there.”

Charlie looked at him. “The hell does that mean?”

The alien holding onto me tensed. “You don’t mean the one on the continent with a magnetic storm covering it, do you?”

“Well…”

I blinked, lost. “Is that… bad?”

“It could tear the pod apart without the proper shielding and that type of shielding is incredibly difficult to come by. And even then, there will be massive amounts of debris within the storm itself. It’s basically a death trap.”

Charlie snorted. “Oh, yeah, that’s a great plan right there. Stay here and get turned into evil aliens or get torn apart in a giant fuckin’ storm on some alien planet. _Fantastic._ ”

The gold alien huffed, crossing his arms. “I happen to know a way to get through the storm safely. I’ve already prepared a pod specifically to get through the storm without anyone knowing. Now, can we please continue heading towards it? I’d rather not be caught so close to freedom after putting in so much work.”

“Yeah,” I spoke up. “We should get moving.”

Zion hesitated. “You sure we can reach this temple place? In one piece?”

“Absolutely.”

“Alright.”

“I don’t like this,” Charlie stated as we began moving down the corridor again.

“Duly noted.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is finally getting to how I want it to be. No one's reading it though ;-;
> 
> Feel free to contact me on IG @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofb1tch or just leave a comment below. I love talking to people and the encouragement is always super welcome.
> 
> Love you all (also my neighbors are being really freakin' annoying rn someone save me


	5. Breakin' Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prison break goes something like they planned...

“Isn’t there a faster way?” Charlie asked after five minutes of endless jogging and confusing turns. He glanced back down the corridor we’d just gone down. “The longer we’re out here the more I feel like we’re going to get caught.”

“This route will ensure the minimum amount of guards we will pass. We’re nearly there. Please save your energy for actually getting the pod.” He slowed down as we approached a large door. Milo opened a smaller cabinet built into the wall, revealing a shelf with large black guns like the ones the invading soldiers had carried. He handed each of us one. “Hold it like this to aim and press here to fire,” he instructed, demonstrating with the one Zion held. “Do not fire unless necessary. The farther into the bay we get before being spotted the better.”

“Aren’t you taking one?” I asked, trying to find a comfortable way to hold the weapon. It was big and clunky and felt like it weighed a ton. Emic seemed to be having a similar issue.

Milo shook his head. “I have taken a vow never to use a weapon or commit such an act of violence.”

“So, you’re just using us to escape?” Charlie sneered. “Nice. I feel so grateful.”

“At least we _are_ escaping,” I pointed out. “Could you stop complaining for five minutes?”

The other teen glared at me, growling out “I’m not complaining. I just want to know his fuckin’ motives.”

“I will happy to explain them, but for now we really must focus on escaping. Please have faith in me until we are out of danger.” Milo smiled sweetly, palms pressed together in a peaceful gesture. I was surprised at how calm he was with Charlie’s constant suspicious attitude until I noticed the slight twitch in his eye with the human in question rolled his eyes. “I left the pod is near the bay doors. This door puts us as close to it as I dared risk it, but it is still a bit of a distance.”

“How many unfriendlies will we be dealing with?” Zion asked.

Milo considered it. “Many, but if we remain calm, it is possible we may get to the pod without being noticed. They would not think prisoners could escape or that a high priest would help them, so they may not think much of us. Keep your weapons down and try to act calm.”

“And if they notice us before we get to the pod?” I asked. Beside me, Emic was shaking again.

“Stay together and run for it,” Zion said.

Milo nodded in agreement. “That is likely the best course of action.” He stepped up to the larger door. “Are you all prepared?”

We nodded. “Don’t fall behind, you two,” Charlie muttered to Emic and me as he stood in front of us, facing the door. “Can’t imagine what happens to those who try to escape twice.”

“Try not to get us caught with that angry face of yours,” Emic shot back, sticking out his tongue at the back of Charlie’s head.

Zion took his position behind the two of us. “Behave you three. We need to work together.”

In front of us, Milo pressed a code into the keypad next to the door and it opened. The pod bay was a huge cavernous room. Hundreds of smaller ships were lined in rows along the walls and more were stored up the walls. What must have been thousands of Thearns filled the room with chatter and noise as they went about their planet-dominating business.

As our small gang started forward into the room, it felt like stepping into a dream. Everything seemed to blur as we walked forward. I couldn’t focus on any one thing and it was pointless to even try and think about what expression I was making. Even the noise seemed to be muted, though I knew it should have been pretty loud. The gun in my hands was the only thing that felt real at that moment, a heavy metal thing that kept me from floating off.

Then like a someone flipped a switch, the spell broke and chaos was everywhere. Blasters were firing in every direction, searing the air as they whizzed by. “Karter, move!” Zion was shouting as a large hand shoved me forward. My body reacted though my mind was still lagging behind as it tried to figure out what was happening. I chased after the pink figure in front of me blindly, completely forgetting the gun in my hands.

By the time we reached the pod, I was somewhat back to normal, turning around to fire off a few shots at the nearest Thearns as Emic scrambled inside. It was my turn then and I hurried to get in and let Zion get on after me. It was cramped, especially after Zion got in and the door was shut.

“Hold on, this is gonna be a rough flight,” Milo warned. The pod hummed to life among the constant pounding of laser blasts hitting the sides. Hopefully, that special shielding would hold up. The pod began to lift, and the gun fell from my hands in favor of gripping the seat.

Next to me, Charlie snorted. “Chicken.”

I couldn’t look at him. I really was. When it came down to it, I had completely checked out. If Zion hadn’t been behind me, I probably would have been left behind. I turned towards him, mouth opening to thank him, when the ship suddenly jerked, listing hard to the left before evening out.

“The left engine was hit,” Emic said from the front seat next to Milo. His hands danced across the control panels. “We need to get out of here.”

“Working on it. Lay some covering fire.” The pod straightened again, moving forward towards the bay doors. That were beginning to close. “C’mon, just a little faster!”

The pod guns fired, loud and violent, clearing a path in front of us. I shut my eyes tightly, hands fisting the fabric of my shirt as I held onto myself. I could feel the ship moving forward, gathering speed, and then a breath of relief from the others. Only, now did I peek an eye open.

We were flying through open space now, rapidly leaving the ship behind. In front of us, a blue planet shimmered, growing closer. “Did we make it?” I asked.

“So far, yes.” Milo frowned at one of the screens. “The left engine took some heavy damage before we managed to get out.”

Zion leaned forward, looking at the screen as well though there was no way he could read it. “Can we make it to the planet?”

“Yes,” Emic answered, “but that’s not the problem. Without both engines fully functioning, our mobility is hindered and getting through that magnetic storm would be hard enough at full power…” He drifted off, frowning in thought.

“So, we made it but we’re going to be caught again?” Charlie spoke up. “This is great.”

“Don’t be such a pessimist,” I told him. “Is there any way to fix it?”

Emic tilted his head. “We’d have to stop somewhere. I don’t know how badly it’s damaged or if we even have what we’d need to fix it.”

“Even if we could fix it, we don’t have time. The Thearns will be assembling a recovery team as we speak.” Milo pressed a few buttons. “There’s nothing being launched from the ship yet, but it could happen any second now.”

“We’ll have to risk it,” Zion said, voice firm. “Unless anyone else has a better idea?”

He looked to Charlie who shrugged. “Hey, I’d rather die escaping than at their hands. Let’s go for it.”

Next, he turned to me. “I think we should at least try to make it.”

Emic answered before Zion could even ask. “The chances of making it in one piece are incredibly low, but I’m not going back there without a fight. Even if that fight is actually us fleeing into a death storm.” He gave a little laugh.

“I wish this had gone more to plan, but I believe it was destined to succeed. There’s no turning back now.” Milo beamed, gold skin looking more silver in the glow of the planet. “We can make it.”

“Then let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope someone is enjoying the exciting parts. 
> 
> Feel free to contact me on IG @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofb1tch or just leave a comment below. I love talking to people and the encouragement is always super welcome.


	6. Through the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The typical point where our heroes escape by going through something that by all rights should kill them.

“Enemy ships have been launched and are heading to our location,” Emic informed us, not thirty seconds later. We were in orbit at the moment, speeding towards the magnetic storm and the continent it hid. “50 seconds until they reach us. 20 seconds until we reach the edge of the storm.”

“The left engine is holding, for the moment,” Milo stated. “How much piloting experience do you have?”

“Uh, about a week.”

Charlie let out a low whine next to me, head thudding against the back of his seat. I shot him a glared before turning my attention back to my new pink friend. “How much of the storm do we have to fly through?” I asked.

Milo blinked at me. “The storm covers the entire continent and the temple is at the very center. Normally, it’d take only a few minutes to cover that distance, but with that storm and the damaged engine, it will take perhaps…mmm… 13 minutes?”

The magnetic storm was in sight now, a massive swirling mess of dun-colored clouds that completely covered the blue surface. _We’re going through all of that?_ “What if we entered from the storm right above the temple?” I asked.

Emic’s face lit up. “That’s brilliant! We could just go straight down and miss most of the storm. All we’d have to worry about is not running into the ground.” Milo nodded, already pressing buttons. “Of course, there is the problem of if there is anywhere to actually land and if we’ll be able to survive the atmosphere.”

“There should be a large entrance to the cave system under the temple.” Milo pulled up an image of a sleek silver buildings among neat electric blue plants. In the center was a small tunnel going straight down. “That’s what we need to aim for. Once we get inside, we should be protected from most of the storm.”

“Unless the tunnel’s been destroyed.”

“Charlie, think positive,” Zion ordered. “Is it even possible to aim for such a small target through the storm?”

“Without a proper computer to guide us? Probably not.” Emic poked at the screen. “This thing will be on the fritz as soon as we get inside the storm, but hopefully if we’re on target when we go in, we should be pretty okay.”

“How much farther until we reach the entry point?” I asked, proud of myself for being able to sound sort of technical.

“Another 15 seconds.” The pod shook, drawing a surprised squeak from Emic. “They caught up to us. C’mon, just a little farther.”

Milo pushed the pod a little faster. “They’re aiming for the left engine. Emic, return fire.”

“On it. 10 seconds.” He pressed several buttons, sending a stream of lasers scattering back towards the approaching enemy ships. “Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Here we go! Hang on!”

The pod tilted forward, heading straight down into the dusty spiral of death. Suddenly, I regretted suggesting this plan. We were definitely going to die. My hands reached out, grabbing for anything to hold onto. They found Charlie’s wrist and Zion’s arm, squeezing them for dear life.

The storm swallowed us, turning everything dark until all I could see what the light of the pod’s screens that were glitching out, barely enough to see the outlines of my fellow escapees. It was strangely silent. I had expected the roaring sound of wind, or thuds of things hitting the sides of the pod, but there was nothing aside from our breathing.

_Do Milo and Emic breathe oxygen like us?_

“Pull up!” Milo shouted. Emic did as he was told and not a moment too soon, considering the way the pod bumped up like it had scraped along something. The air was a little clearer now, but it was still impossible to make anything out until it was too late to completely avoid it. “The tunnel entrance should be around here somewhere. Can you find the ground?”

“I don’t think finding the ground will be the problem,” Emic answered through gritted teeth, knuckles turning dark pink as he gripped the controls. “It’s _surviving_ finding it that I’m worried about.”

“Wait, isn’t that one of the buildings that was near it?” Charlie asked, pointing to one that we had barely managed to not crash into.

Milo nodded. “Emic, go forward slowly. It should be right ahead of us.”

“Easy for you to say, Goldie,” he muttered, doing his best to obey.

An alarm went off, flashing red on a screen. “The left engine won’t hold up for much longer.” No sooner had Milo dismissed it than another one popped up. “Damn it, the shielding’s taking too much pressure. C’mon, where is it?”

“There!” I shouted. “In front of us.”

“I don’t see anything…”

“Trust me, it’s there.” I couldn’t explain how I knew, I just could feel it somewhere deep within myself. “Emic, go.”

He nodded, moving forward again. Sure enough, a circle, darker than the area around it, opened up below us and Emic drove the pod down into it without a moment’s hesitation. We were headed down again, at more of an angle this time, which was a huge relief for me. Slowly it flattened out until we were horizontal.

“Holy shit, we lived,” Charlie said.

“And you doubted we could do it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Not like you were of any help.” He crossed his arms and looked in the opposite direction, which was a wall.

 _Asshole._ “Milo, how far do these tunnels go?”

“We should be coming up on the main chamber soon.” He checked a screen. “And not a moment too soon. The engine is ready to give out.”

The pod began to slow and eventually began listing left again just as we entered a large room. It gave a little sputter and then the ship dropped to the ground, skidding along a few more yards before stopping.

“Guess this is our stop,” Zion said. “Shall we get out?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like death itself right now. How will all our characters survive me?
> 
> Feel free to contact me on IG @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofb1tch or just leave a comment below. I love talking to people and the encouragement is always super welcome.


	7. Secrets Beneath the Temple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They escaped their prison. Their next challenge: Survival

Zion reached for the handle to open to the pod. “Wait! Are we sure the air is breathable? You know, for us?”

“Good point.” He leaned back. “Is there any way to check that?”

“Yeah, please don’t kill us now after all this.”

Milo started typing something into the computer. “From what I can tell, your species should be fine with the atmosphere. The Thearns took bio scans when they first began capturing you as to ensure that you would survive long enough to be turned into them.”

“Yeah, I still have so many questions about that,” I said, “But let’s see where we are first.”

The pod door was opened cautiously. When we didn’t immediately start gasping for breath or explode with blood leaking from every orifice, we decided that Milo’s science was right and stepped out on the alien planet. The gravity felt the same as Earth’s and if Emic or Milo weren’t there, I could almost pretend we hadn’t been captured by evil aliens. High above our heads, a huge gem grew out of the ceiling, casting the room in a pale blue light.

“Ooh, it’s a big cave.” Charlie looked around, arms crossed like a stereotypical emo teen. “Great. How are we going to get home?”

Emic gave a little gasp and rushed over to the left engine. The plating covering it was twisted and burned. The pink alien wiggled his hands underneath it and, with a little effort, peeled it back. “Looks like the cooling system took most of the damage.” He leaned in closer. “We’re lucky the engine didn’t explode. Everything in here is pretty well fried.”

“Any chance of fixing it?” Zion asked.

He shook his head. “I’d have to replace pretty much everything inside it. Unless we can somehow find the parts to fix it, we’re stranded here for the foreseeable future.”

“Lovely.”

“Charlie, please say something positive or don’t say anything,” I told him, doing my best impression of my mother. He flipped me off. “Hey, where’d Milo go?”

We all looked around. “Over there,” Zion said, pointing out the gold figure wandering over to the entrance of one of the many tunnels. “Milo! What’s up?”

He looked back at us, perplexed. “Much earth, the temple, and then the storm above that. Surely you know this?”

I covered a laugh behind a hand as Zion explained, “No, I meant what are you doing. It’s a phrase we use a lot. It’s not meant to be taken literally.”

“Fascinating,” Emic commented. “Do humans often say things that you don’t mean? Like the teasing thing you mentioned earlier?” he asked me.

“Sort of? It depends more on context, I guess.” I shrugged. “Did you find something, Milo?” I asked.

“Possibly. I am not entirely sure.” We walked over to where he was standing. “There are markings here on the wall that I am unfamiliar with. There’s nothing mentioned about them in any of the sacred texts I have read.”

“Maybe you missed one,” Charlie suggested from the back of the group.

I moved forward to look at the strange drawings carved into the wall of the tunnel. “Can you read them?”

“There are some that are similar to those I know.” He glanced back at Charlie. “As a high priest, I have studied this language for all of my life. There is little chance I would not know them unless they were created after this temple was abandoned…”

Emic shivered. “But who would be here to create new markings? I thought everyone left?”

“Well, no one knows who made the markings in the first place,” he informed us, not taking his attention off the wall. “There were only a few graced with the ability to decipher them. The rest of us had to study them from what they wrote.”

“That’s interesting, but perhaps for now, we should focus our energy on setting up a base camp and figure out how we’re going to survive until we are able to get off the planet,” Zion commanded. “Milo, what resources will we be able to find down in these caves?”

Milo straightened, cheeks darkening slightly. “Right, right. There should be some living quarters down one of these tunnels. I brought as many extra supplies as I could on the pod, but they’ll only last so long.”

“What do we do when we run out?” I asked as we walked back to the pod.

“If the growers still work down here, then we shouldn’t have a problem, but it has been five hundred years since they were operated.”

“Sounds like a job for me,” Emic said.

“Right,” Zion said, clapping his hands together. “Charlie and I will stay here and work on getting a livable space set up. Karter and Emic can go and check on those grower things and try to get them operational.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, with a little mock salute. Emic nodded. Charlie only sighed, disinterested.

“Milo, if you could show us where those living quarters are and then guide them to the growers, that’d be fantastic.”

“Solid plan,” the gold alien complimented. “If you’ll follow me then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to contact me on IG @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofb1tch or just leave a comment below. I love talking to people and the encouragement is always super welcome.


	8. In the Tunnels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space cat attempts to keep them all from starving to death.

“These tunnels are pretty creepy, don’t you think?” I asked. Milo had given us a small lantern before he’d left us in the room where the growers were, and I was using it investigate the huge machines. They were sort of like an alien greenhouse, but capable of growing plants at a highly accelerated rate. It didn’t even need seeds, just an analysis of the plant. They were super cool, but in dark, they looked somewhat terrifying and I kept thinking that something would surely jump out from behind one of them. “I mean, the main cave was pretty nice because there was that weird glow-y rock, but the tunnels… they’re dark as heck.”

“Can humans not see in the dark?” Emic asked from where he was crouching in front of the control panel, observing the inner workings of the machine. I answered no. “Interesting. My planet experienced long time periods where there was very little light from our star due to the planets that surrounded us, so my people adapted to have excellent night vision. We are also capable of sensing our surroundings even without the use of sight.”

I leaned against the side of the console. “So, you’re basically a pink space cat. Cool.”

Emic looked, tilting his head at me. “What’s a ‘cat’?”

“They’re these super cute, little animals back on Earth. A lot of people kept them as companions.” I shrugged. “You remind of them. ‘Cept you’re pink, of course.”

“Oh.” Emic ducked back down, but not before I noticed the blush coloring his cheeks. “What did these cats look like, specifically?”

“Well, they kinda varied, depending on the breed, but they were four-legged, furry, had sharp teeth…” I paused, thinking of how best to describe a cat. “They weren’t very big, usually about this size,” I gestured with my hands. “Oh, and they had long tails. That’s usually how you could tell their emotions.”

“A tail? Like this?” Something wiggled under the back of his shirt and for a moment, I was worried I’d witness some weird alien thing happen. Instead, a long, fur-covered tail popped out. It curled slightly against him like he was embarrassed by the way I stared. “Karter?”

 _Right, staring is rude._ I cleared my throat, looking away. “Yeah, exactly like that. Except, ya know, proportionate to them. You really are a space cat.” I laughed awkwardly. “How’s the repair work going?”

“Well, if I could figure out how the system actually worked, I could get started on the repair work.” Emic sighed sitting back on his heels. His tail twitched irritably, and I had to force myself not to look. “I’ve never seen anything like this. To be honest, I’m not sure if it’s actually broken, or it just needs a power source, and even then, I have no idea _what_ powered it.”

“Maybe Milo knows. Do you wanna head back and ask him?”

Emic nodded, standing up. “Might as well. I’m getting kinda hungry too.”

My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since that morning back on Earth. _Had it only been just a day?_ “Yeah, same here. Hope Milo stole some good food.”

When we headed out the door, we both turned in opposite directions. “Uh, Karter, where are you going? The main cavern’s this way.”

I frowned, looking at the tunnel he was pointing to. “Are you sure? I’m pretty sure we came from this direction.”

The pink alien shook his head. “No, it was definitely this way.”

“Dude, not that I don’t trust you or anything, but I’m like 99% sure we’re supposed to go this way.”

Emic looked up and down the long tunnel, searching for some sign of which way we were supposed to go. “Maybe… I thought we came from the right... Why do all these tunnels look the same?” He pouted. “Let’s go your way. If we don’t see anything familiar after a while we’ll turn back around.”

“Good plan.” Holding the lantern in front of us, I led the way down the tunnel. “Do you think if we’re gone too long Milo will come looking for us? I mean, even if we do get a little lost, he should be able to find us as long as we don’t go too far.”

“Yeah,” Emic agreed. “He’ll probably come to get us soon unless they’re having trouble in the living quarters. After all, we were only supposed to check out the growers, not necessarily fix them.”

“Hopefully we _can_ fix them eventually though.” My stomach growled again, echoed by Emic’s. “Man, I hope Milo comes to find us soon. I think my stomach’s trying to eat itself.” We came to a fork in the tunnel, both paths leading off in different directions. “We saw this before right? Which one should we take?”

The short alien shook his head. “I’m not so sure. We should wait for Milo before going off into the tunnels. As long as we stay in the same tunnel, he should be able to find us, but if we leave it...”

Just as he finished speaking the ground rumbled and gave way below us, sending us tumbling down into a black abyss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to contact me on IG @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofb1tch or just leave a comment below. I love talking to people and the encouragement is always super welcome.


	9. Further Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They find something in the darkness that will forever change the universe.

“Oof!” I landed hard on my butt, the lantern flying from my hand to roll to a stop of a few feet away. Beside me, I could hear Emic shuffling around. “Emic? You okay?”

“Yeah. What did we fall through?”

I looked up, but without any source of light brighter than the lantern, it was pointless. “The tunnel floor must have given way. Maybe we did end up going the wrong way after all,” I added with a little laugh. “Sorry, Emic.”

“Not like you intended for us to fall through a hole,” he said. A hand extended towards me from the darkness and I took it, letting him lift me with an ease that threw me off. “What should we do now? Stay here and hope Milo will find us?”

“Dunno.” I leaned down and picked up the lantern, lifting it higher to see how far down we fell. “I can’t even see the hole. I thought that maybe we could climb out but…”

Emic squinted upwards too. “I can’t see it either. I can see the ceiling… but there’s nothing we could have fallen through.” He paused, staring at one point. “There’s a weird section, but it’s not a hole. It kinda looks like a trap door.”

“You don’t think we fell through that, do you?” My mind was racing. _How could we fall through a trap door? Wouldn’t it have to have something to activate it? But Milo said this temple was abandoned centuries ago… could it be that—_ “Someone else is down here with us.”

The alien took a step closer to me, fingers twisting together with worry. “But Milo said the temple was abandoned.”

“By the Order maybe. But remember what he said about the markings just appearing on the wall? They didn’t know what made them, so how could they know if that thing left when they did?”

“Do you think it trapped us down here?” he whispered.

Terror was written in every line in his face. I put on a brave smile. “Maybe it just wants to show us something. I mean, the Order wasn’t afraid of it, so why should we be? It’ll be okay Emic.” I offered my hand and he happily laced our fingers together, giving it a squeeze of gratitude. “Should we go find out why it brought us down here?”

“Is that a good idea?”

“Better than just staying here and waiting for something else to happen.”

“Good point.” He took a deep breath and his grip on my hand tightened. “Let’s go.”

Lifting the lantern to light the way in front of us, I led the way into the dark. There weren’t any walls that I could see, so we seemed to be another large cavern. “Emic, can you see anything?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

“Not really. I think there might be something up ahead, but I can’t really make it out.” We continued walking towards it, ears and eyes peeled for any sign of danger. “Karter, I think it’s a ship.”

I perked up at the thought. “A ship? That means we can fly out of here!”

“If we can get past the Thearns that is.” Emic took the lead as we approached the ship. “It’s huge. I’ve never any ship like this.”

Finally, it came into the circle of light provided by the lantern. The surface was smooth and black, somehow darker than the darkness wrapped around it. I could only see a tiny portion of it though, given how widely Emic was turning his head to take it in. “Maybe it was left behind from when the Order left.”

Emic shook his head. “I’ve seen the ships they used. They had nothing on this. This is a masterpiece. She’s beautiful.” His voice was full of awe as he slowly approached the ship, reaching out a hand to touch the smooth surface of its hull. “Karter. Karter, come feel this.” I came up behind him and he eagerly pressed my free hand to the ship. “It’s warm.”

It was warm. A soft, humming sort of warmth, but beneath that I could feel something else. “Does it have a pulse?”

The pink space cat next to me closed his eyes, focusing entirely on the feeling of the ship. “It does.” His eyes opened, and he stumbled back, startled. “I know what ship this is. Oh, my gods.” Emic ran a shaking hand through his hair. “We need to get back to Milo and the others right now. This is bad.”

“Emic? Emic, what’s going on? What ship is this?”

He shook his head. “It’s not what ship it is that matters. It’s whose.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than I felt the ship’s pulse beat harder against my palm. Lights flared to life on it and the engines purred, the sound echoing in the cavern.

“It’s Savik’s. He’s the one who created the Thearns. He’s the one who took over the universe.” Emic stared at the ship with unmasked fear. “And he did it with this ship. The ship that couldn’t be destroyed. This is the SunStriker.”


	10. Teenagers Ignore Signs of Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, yeah, let's go investigate the mysterious alien thing while concerned friend looks on.

I backed up to where Emic was standing, watching the ship warily. Nothing moved after the lights and engine had turned on. “Nothing’s happening,” I said after a moment. “Maybe no one’s home?” Slowly, I started to edge forward.

Emic caught my arm. “Karter! What are you doing? Do you want to die?”

“They’ve had plenty of time to kill us before now. Let’s go check it out.” I moved forward again and Emic came with me, his grip on my wrist turning painful. “Emic, breathe. It’s gonna be okay. Probably.”

He took a deep breath as we reached the ship again. With the lights on, I could see the true size and shape of the ship. It was sleek and elegant, not a sharp line on it. It was definitely bigger than the pod, with long wings extending out on either side of the large, main body of the ship, though it wasn’t nearly as gigantic like the Thearn ship we’d escaped.

We moved back the front of one wing that we’d been at before, heading towards the center of the ship. A sudden hiss made us jump and freeze, watching the ship open slowly. No one came walking out. “Do you think we’re supposed to go in?”

“I think we’re supposed to go find Milo and the others,” Emic answered. He tried to pull me back. “Karter, please.”

“If you want to go back, you can. I’m going in.” I slipped my arm from his grasp. He kept hold of my sleeve. “Emic, relax. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“One minute. Then you better come back.” I nodded, and he let go. “I’ll be right here. Don’t die, okay?”

“I won’t.”

With one last smile, I turned and walked into the ship.

~Meanwhile~

“This is lame,” Charlie said, setting down what felt like the tenth box of supplies. “We should be focusing on fixing the ship. What if the Thearns follow us down through the storm? How are we going to get escape with a broken ship?”

Zion sighed. “There’s no reason for them to follow us. We won’t be able to get away even with a fully functioning pod, not with them waiting for us just beyond the storm.” He shook his head. “All they have to do is keep watch until we try to make a run for it.”

“So, we’re in a corner. Great.”

The man glanced at the dark-haired teen. “You’re not fond of feeling trapped, are you?”

He glanced up. “What? Like you are?”

“I wouldn’t say I like it, but I wasn’t the one moments away from having a panic attack when he found out there wasn’t a door to the room he was in.” Zion watched Charlie out of the corner of his eye, gauging his reaction. “Want to talk about it?”

“No.” The answer was sharp, defensive. “I wasn’t having a panic attack. Fuck off.” He turned away, meaning to go back to the pod for another box.

Zion stopped him with a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Charlie. We’re all in this situation together. A little trust would be appreciated. If you have… trouble… with certain things, it’d be better to know ahead of time.”

The teen smacked his hand away, glaring up at him with all the spite he could muster. “I can fucking take care of myself. I don’t need any of your fake ass shit. Leave me the fuck alone.” He turned and stormed off into the tunnels, snatching up one of the lanterns Milo had set up along the route back to the main cavern. Within moments, he had disappeared from his sight.

Milo poked his head out of one of the other rooms. “Everything all right?”

“Uh, not really. Do you want to go get Emic and Karter? I think it might be a good idea to have a group meeting.”

“What about Charlie? Is he going exploring? These tunnels can be confusing. It’s unwise to do so alone without a way to find his way back.”

“I’ll get him. Don’t worry.” Zion leaned down and picked up another lantern. “If we’re not back when you get back, could you maybe start making up some food? I suspect we’ll all be getting pretty hungry right about now.”

“Yes, sir.” Milo nodded, heading off in the direction he’d taken the other two earlier.

Zion sighed, running a hand through his short hair. “Kids these days…” he muttered to himself before he started after Charlie. It wasn’t long before he was completely surrounded by the darkness, squinting ahead of him in search for the wayward teen. “Charlie? Hey, you really shouldn’t be wandering off. You’ll get lost,” he called.

There was no answer, but he had hardly expected one. Charlie was hardly one to give in so easily. He kept going until he reached a fork in the tunnel. Neither one seemed particularly appealing. Zion paused for a moment, straining his ears in hopes of hearing some slight noise that’d tell him which Charlie had chosen.

There was nothing but silence.

“Damn it.” After another moment’s consideration, he turned and went down the right path. “You better appreciate this, you angsty teen.” The tunnel sloped upward, and it wasn’t long before he was panting slightly. Slowly, he began to notice a light growing at the end of it. “Thank God.”

He entered a decently sized cavern. The lantern Charlie had taken had been left at the entrance while the boy himself was walking towards a brighter light source in the middle of the room. It was an odd blue and silver glittering orb that rested atop a pedestal in the very center. Around it, strange markings were carved into the floor.

“Charlie?”

The teen glanced back at him, face cast in sharp planes of shadow and icy silver. “What?”

Zion approached cautiously, unsure of what the orb was, but fairly sure that it was unlikely to be anything safe for them. “Charlie, we should get back to the others. We were going to start making food soon and talk about what our next steps are going to be.”

Charlie turned back to the orb. “Yeah, yeah, in a second. I wanna get a closer look at this thing.”

“I think that’s close enough.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” He stepped closer to the orb, reaching out a hand. Zion was ready to shout for him to stop, but it was too late. Charlie’s fingertips brushed the surface and for a moment, it seemed that nothing was happening. Then, ever so slowly, the orb tilted to the side and then it went crashing to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna change the story description later. Finally thought of a better one.
> 
> Feel free to message me on Instagram @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofab1tch or leave a comment down below. I love to hear from you!


	11. What's Inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to find out what's in there.

The humans stumbled back away from it, fearing that it would be filled with some harmful substance. They watched in amazement as the strange silver liquid, rather than spreading across the floor as expected, instead began to come together and, even more amazingly, began to grow upward. They stared in shock as an entire person was formed in front of them within moments. The gold figure remained perfectly for a second.

And then his eyes opened.

He wasn’t terribly different in appearance from Milo. He had the same curly hair and metallic skin and eyes, though a bright, almost white, silver color, rather than gold. His features were softer, giving him a more youthful look, and his body was slight but athletic.

“Hello?” Zion spoke up after a moment of staring.

The silver alien turned his head towards them, blinking in surprise. “Greetings. You are not what I expected.”

“The fuck does that mean?” Charlie demanded to know. “Who the hell are you?”

He smiled, chuckling at Charlie’s aggressive behavior. “I simply meant I expected more of you. It will take more than two to pilot the DayBreak. My name is Izar. I am a prophet of the Order of Lacarea. May I ask if there are perhaps more of you somewhere nearby?”

“There are…” Zion gazed at him, considering the risks. “We were about to go back and meet them. If you’ll come with us. I’m sure we all have a lot of questions to work through.”

“Naturally, there will be some confusion. I will try to provide as much information as possible.”

Charlie pulled Zion aside. “We shouldn’t take him back to the others. He just came out of a freakin’ ball. How can we trust him?”

“There are two of us. I think we can handle it if he attacks. Besides, he’s part of the Order. Milo helped us escape. I’m sure we can take this risk.” Zion put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Besides, I’d rather not have this guy running around on his own before we get some info out of him.”

“Fine. But if he’s a bad guy and we die, I’m blaming you entirely.”

They turned back to find Izar watching them curiously. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes. Just having a brief discussion. If you’ll follow me then.” Zion began to lead the way back down the tunnel. Izar followed him and Charlie took up the rear, keeping a careful eye on the newest addition to this insane adventure. “What were you doing inside that orb thing?”

“I was selected to remain behind to watch over the DayBreak when the Temple was abandoned. The Orb of Oracles allowed me to wait whatever the necessary time period it took to fulfill the prophecy.” They reached the fork in the tunnel and Izar paused, head turning sharply to look down the left path. “There is someone in the DayBreak now.”

Charlie glared at his back. “What the hell are you talking about? What the fuck is the DayBreak?”

“A great secret that was made to take down Savik. However, there were only a few capable of wielding it. Those that it calls to it. One of which is entering now. Perhaps it would be wise to go and collect them first?”

“What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull? We’re not going down some weird ass tunnel just because you think some one’s getting into something.”

Izar looked back at him, a soft smile playing on his lips. “I understand your caution, but I assure you there is nothing to fear from me. I am only here to assist the ones the prophecy foretold us about. If you wish for us not to go down the tunnel, I will respect that choice.”

“Zion! Charlie!” Milo called down the tunnel. A moment later he appeared, panting and distraught. “Karter and Emic weren’t in the Growers room and I can’t find them in the nearby tunnels. I fear they’ve gotten lost—” He froze upon seeing Izar standing between them. “You—what—how?”

“Hello, fellow guardian of the ancient way.” Izar bowed to Milo, which the high priest returned. “This Karter and Emic you refer to, they are the rest of your group, correct? They must be the ones that have awakened the DayBreak. I will be happy to lead you to them if you are willing to trust me.” His gaze turned towards Charlie for half a moment, amusement dancing in them.

Milo was still at a loss for words, trying to process how another member of the Order could possibly be here. Zion nodded, answering for him. “Lead the way then.”

~

The inside of the ship was as sleek and futuristic as the outside. The walls were white, with a black floor and ceiling. Still, there was no sign of life anywhere and I was beginning to wonder if maybe the ship was running on some sort of autopilot thing.

I crept a little farther in. There was a computer panel on one side, but written in an alien language I had no hope of reading. _Emic might be able to though._ I turned to go back outside and get him when another door opened. Curiosity as to what was beyond it drew me farther into the ship. _I still have time before I have to go back,_ I thought to myself as I stepped through the doorway, finding myself in a sort of lounge-like room.

No sooner had I gone three feet inside then the door shut behind me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to message me on Instagram @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofab1tch or leave a comment down below. I love to hear from you!


	12. The Ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karter goes exploring

I spun around, staring at the door. Walking back to it, I half-expected it to be motion-activated, but it remained still. There was a small control panel next to it and I spent a few moments pressing them, trying to see if one of them would cause it to open. “C’mon, I need to get back. Emic’s waiting,” I pleaded to the ship or whoever was controlling it. It was long past time for me to get back to Emic by now.

Rather than letting me back out, a door on the opposite side opened. Again, there was no one visible there that I could see. _This is a bad idea,_ I thought to myself. I gave the door another try to no result. With a sigh, I turned back to the door that had just opened. “Please don’t kill me. I just want to go home.”

Slowly, I crept across the room and through the door that led into a hall. Like before, the door closed behind me almost immediately. This time I didn’t even bother trying to open it. There were four more doors spread out along the hallway, two on each side directly opposite of each other. None of them opened when I approached so I kept going, praying they wouldn’t open after I was past and let a bunch of bad guys out.

Luckily, they had remained still and closed when I reached the end of the hallway. There was a spiral staircase leading up to the deck above and I went up. The silence of the ship was starting to unnerve me, and I wanted to figure out how to get out of here as fast I could. At the top was another hallway much like the one I’d just left, but with only two doors to either side, in addition to the one at the end. I jumped when a door behind me slid open with a hiss, having not expected one to be there.

Turning around, I have expected someone to be there, but once more there was no one. _Is the ship haunted or something?_ I asked myself, stepping into the room. This time the door remained open, which gave me some relief as I wandered further in.

It had to be the main control room for the ship. At the front, there were two seats with all the controls for piloting. Along the walls were other stations for what I imagined would be weapons systems and the sensors and the all other stuff required for space travel. In the middle of the room stood a single chair. _The captain’s chair,_ my brain supplied, recalling all those old space exploration dramas Knox used to watch.

I ran my hand over the smooth fabric, wondering what it would be like to sit in this chair, leading a crew that trusted me to make the right decisions in tense situations. I could be a hero, save some planets, maybe even Earth. I could go after my brother and he’d be so proud…

 _Knox…_ I had no idea what had happened to him after I’d been captured. I didn’t even know what happened to my family if they were still on Earth or had been carted away to be turned into Thearns… What if they had been? No one had gone into detail as to what that meant, but wouldn’t it be possible that if I did choose to fight against them that I might one day find myself fighting someone I loved?

The air in the room suddenly seemed thin and I stumbled back. The chair seemed so much more threatening now in the face of reality. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to make that choice. I couldn’t.

Turning around, I sprinted back down the stairs and through the hallway. The door opened as I approached, having apparently shown me what I needed to see. Through the lounge and the other door, and then I was stumbling down the ramp and back towards Emic.

The pink alien gasped when he saw me, sprinting forward to pull me into a tight hug. “I thought you were dead. You said you’d be back in a minute. You were gone for ages.” He pulled back, lips set in a pout. “You lied to me.”

“Sorry, Em.” I smiled, rubbing the back of my neck. “The doors kinda shut behind me.”

He blinked, brow furrowing in concern. “Are you okay? You look a little pale. And you came running out of there like you saw a ghost or something?”

I shook my head. “I’m fine. There was no one in there. It’s just a ship. We must’ve activated it somehow.”

“But I was _sure_ that it was the SunStriker. It has to be. There’s no other ship made of living metal.”

“That anyone knows about, that is,” a new voice said from the darkness.

Stepping into the light was a silver alien, much like Milo. “Hello, Karter, Emic. My name is Izar. I am a Prophet of the order.” He smiled at the two of us before his gaze drifted lovingly over the ship. “The DayBreak was built in secret, away from Savik’s watchful eyes.”

From behind him, Zion, Charlie, and Milo appeared, marveling at the ship as well. “Unbelievable,” Milo mumbled. “Such a design… I thought it was only ever dreamed of…”

“If it was meant to fight Savik, then why didn’t anyone bother to use it before he took over the entire fuckin’ universe?” Charlie asked. I would have phrased it a little more politely, but the same thought had been on my mind. “Why was it just abandoned along with the Temple?”

Izar smiled at him, reaching out to press a hand against the underside of the ship. “This is no ordinary ship that can be piloted by anyone. A ship made of living metal chooses its own crew and will accept no others.”

“What does this have to do with us?” Zion asked. “You mentioned some prophecy earlier.”

“I did. When the ship was completed, I had a vision that I, another of the order, and four outsiders would one day take this ship out among the stars and battle Savik for control of the universe.” He turned to directly address the entire group. “As you stand before me now, I can see that the prophecy has nearly been brought to completion. I ask you now to join me and bring peace and stability to the many worlds that Savik has destroyed in his lust for power.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting tired of coming up with chapter titles and descriptions already.
> 
> Feel free to message me on Instagram @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofab1tch or leave a comment down below. I love to hear from you!


	13. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team has some quality bonding time

“No.”

We turned as one to look at Charlie. He stared back at us, almost confused by the accusations in our expressions. “What? I just want to go home. I didn’t ask to be part of some weird ass alien prophecy. Why should I risk my life for a bunch of aliens that aren’t willing to fight for themselves?”

“Charlie.”

He glared at Zion. “What? Gonna tell me I’m wrong or that I’m being selfish? I don’t care.” The teen turned his harsh gaze back to Izar. “Isn’t it more selfish to ask people who were just taken from their home planet against their will to fight a war they never even knew about until now?”

“But you do know about it.” Dark blue eyes fell on me and Charlie’s scowl deepened. “You can do something to change the universe, to help people, and you would turn your back on it just because you’re scared.” I crossed my arms, maintaining eye contact. “So yeah, that is selfish. Incredibly selfish, actually.”

“I’m not scared,” he growled.

“Sounds like it to me.”

Charlie stalked over to me, invading my personal space. I was a few inches taller than him though, and he had to tilt his head back a little to keep up his glare. “I’m not fuckin’ scared of anything, you little shit.”

“Really? Because right now it seems like you’re running away without even trying.”

I didn’t see him swing his fist, but I sure as hell felt it connect. The blow sent me stumbling back; the only thing that kept me on my feet was Emic. Bringing my hand up to my face, I realized blood was pouring from my nose. _Oh, shit, did he break it?_ Was my first thought.

Izar and Milo were immediately surrounding me, concerned. Someone gave me a bit of cloth to mop up the blood with, but I was more concerned with what was happening with Charlie. I craned my neck to see past the two aliens, finally spotting Zion half-dragging Charlie away from me. His face was not pleased, and Charlie must have known he was in trouble now as he wasn’t putting up much of a fight.

“Let’s get you inside the ship. The med equipment will have you perfectly right again in a moment,” Izar said. I was ushered back inside the ship before I fully realized it. “What odd behavior. In my vision, everyone worked well together. I did not expect such violence. Perhaps my sight is not as clear as I had thought.”

We were through the lounge now, turning to the first door on the left in the hallway. Half of the room was filled with metal shelves that were full of sealed boxes while the other side was open. A low counter ran around the wall of that half, with a silver metal table in the middle. I was led there to sit down as Izar rummaged through the cabinets, searching for something.

“I can’t believe Charlie actually hit you,” Emic squeaked, pressing another bit of cloth to my nose. The other one had become heavy with my blood. “It’s a good thing he doesn’t want to join the team. He’d be a pretty rotten teammate.”

Izar returned to me, holding several strange instruments. “I’ll need to take a scan of you before I can start to fix you. Please hold as still as possible,” he instructed, raising one of the devices. I lowered my hand, so he could take the scan. “Hmm,” he hummed. “Milo, would you mind going and getting another human? Zion would be the best, I imagine.”

Milo nodded and left the room. “Why do you need Zion?” I asked. My voice sounded weird and nasally, but the bleeding had mostly stopped.

“Human physiology is different from ours, I imagine. I don’t want to try to heal you without calibrating it to suit your kind’s specifications, and since you are already damaged…”

“Thanks to Charlie,” Emic growled under his breath.

I smiled at him, which must have been quite the site with all the blood still on my face. “It’s okay. I did kinda push him. We can find a way past this.”

Izar’s silver eyes lit up. “What a graceful approach to the situation. Humans are fascinating.”

Emic nodded and began sharing what he’d learned about us since we’d met. I stifled a giggle at their excitement. Moments later, Zion came in with Milo. “Charlie headed back to the base camp we set up,” he informed us. “I think it’d be best to give him so time to cool off a bit before we try to do anything.”

The silver alien raised the device to scan him. “That seems a wise decision. It would have been much better to get a scan of all of you _before_ someone was hurt.”

“It’s really not that bad,” I said, wincing. “It was more a surprise than anything.”

“You’re covered in blood, my boy,” Milo said, gesturing to my shirt. There was a line of blood splatter down the front of it that the cloth hadn’t been able to contain. “Nevertheless, physically attacking someone is not something so easily forgivable, and it certainly is not forgivable in a hero of the people.”

“We can fight Savik and the Thearns without him, can’t we? How many does it take to fly the ship?” Emic asked.

“Honestly, it could probably be flown by one if it chose to,” Izar answered, now lifting another device up to my face. There was a bit of whirring and strange tingling in the area of my nose, and then the pain faded away and breathing was easy. “Therein lies the problem: if it chose to. The DayBreak is a living being, and if it decided that Charlie must be part of the team, then I don’t believe a crew of any size will be able to pilot it.”

“Guys, I don’t really like Charlie either, but I don’t think he’s a bad guy,” I said. I slid off the table and straightened my ruined shirt. “I think he’s just in a stressful situation and he doesn’t know how to handle it. I’m gonna go talk to him.”

“He literally just punched you,” Zion reminded me. He stepped between me and the door. “I’d rather you waited until one of us talked to him first.”

I sighed. “You’re probably right. Is there somewhere I can go clean up?” I glanced back at Izar.

He smiled, nodding. “All the rooms on this deck have a bathroom joined to them if you wish to use one.”

“Thanks.” Zion let me walk past him and into the hall. Once the door slid shut, I turned to the right, walking through the lounge and out of the ship. Making my way back to the main cavern was difficult and took a little trying, but somehow, I made it with little incident. Charlie was sitting on one of the pod’s stubby wings, leaning back and staring up at the crystal. “Uh, hey, Charlie.”


	14. Apologies and Backstory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally eat their dinner.

“The fuck do you want?” He growled, but he sounded more tired than angry. “I’ll fuckin’ kick the shit out of you.”

“Yeah, I kinda noticed before.” I laughed awkwardly. “I actually wanted to say that I’m sorry for calling you selfish and scared.”

He narrowed his eyes at me for a moment before scoffing and looking away. “Fuckin’ better be. I’m not either of them.”

“I didn’t say weren’t. I just realized I shouldn’t have said it like that.”

Charlie sat up, speaking through gritted teeth. “The fuck are you tryin’ say?”

I shrugged, trying to look casual and not like I was ready to run if he got up. “I’m saying that for some people when put into a tough spot, their first instinct is to protect themselves. It’s not necessarily wrong. I just don’t agree with it.” Letting out a deep breath, I put on my best smile. “And just because I don’t agree, doesn’t mean I should have called you out like that.”

“How hard did I fuckin’ hit you?”

The question pulled a surprised laugh out of me. “Not that hard, really. I mean, it bled a lot, but that’s cool.” I took a step forward, thinking that maybe the danger had passed. “Izar said that we might not be able to pilot the ship without you.”

“And?”

“And I think it’d be good for everyone if we all get along.” He opened his mouth to shout. “I’m not trying to start anything, I swear. I’m just asking for a little cooperation until we get out of the planet. Then you can punch me all you want.”

Charlie crossed his arms, leaning back again. “And if I don’t cooperate?”

“You’ll be stuck down here with us. Forever.” I smirked. “We’ll be _best buds._ ”

His nose crinkled in distaste. “Don’t be fuckin’ weird.” He sighed, looking away. “Go tell Zion to hurry and make some food. I’m getting hungry.”

My stomach grumbled at the mention of food, reminding me why we’d gone into the tunnels in the first place. “Right. Will do. But only because I’m hungry, too,” I added. “Don’t think I’m going to follow your orders now.”

He rolled his eyes in response but said nothing.

Dinner that night was awkward. The food was bland and full of strange tastes and textures. Charlie sat off to the side of the circle we had made, sullenly eating what Milo had prepared for us. I tried to keep the atmosphere light and happy, telling as many funny stories of Earth as I could think of, which the three aliens eagerly ate up. Zion chipped in occasionally to help explain Earth things that seemed so normal to us, but strange to the others.

Once the food had been finished off and the conversation slowly trailed off, there was a tangible shift in the air. “I think,” Zion began, “that it is time for some of our questions to be answered.”

I nodded, “Yeah, I definitely have a few bouncing around in my head.” Charlie said nothing, but he was clearly listening, even as he glared at the wall. “Um, about the Thearns…” I started, but Izar cut me off.

“I think it may be best to start from the beginning.” He looked at Milo and Emic. “I realize that the two of you will have already known much of this, but I believe my account will be the most accurate since I was there.” The silver alien took a deep breath to steady himself. “The story begins six hundred years ago when a mysterious new metal was discovered on one of the moons of Lacarea…”

“It was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before, stronger and lighter than anything ever developed previously. It was thought that this new ore would revolutionize our space travel and several of the best engineers were sent to build a prototype ship, but that is where the difficulties began. The metal was difficult and while it was not necessarily hard to mold, it would rarely maintain that shape for long. Members of the Order were called, and it was then we discovered that the metal contained a lifeforce of its own. It was metal, but it was also one large organism. A group of the most brilliant minds from across seven galaxies came together to study the metal. There were many attempts to create some form of communication with it, but nothing worked until a young, Dalian scientist by the name of Savik became involved.

“Dalians possessed minor telepathic abilities,” he explained, “and while Savik was not incredibly gifted with telepathy, he began to create a bond between himself and the metal organism. With his assistance, we were able to create a great ship almost entirely out of the living metal, a ship born with the purpose to protect the universe. This was the SunStriker.

“Savik naturally became his captain, and for many years, there was peace. The SunStriker and Savik became symbols of safety and protection across the universe. The problems that had once seemed impossible to solve were things of the past and many believed it to be the beginning of a new era. And it was. But not in the way we had believed.

“I had just begun my initiation into the Order when the whispers began, whispers that spoke of Savik’s obsession with control, that his crew had begun to act strangely. But few who were able to do anything listened. The SunStriker and his crew had never been more capable, and they didn’t dare risk messing it up. But it grew worse, and the whispers grew with each passing day. The crew no longer left the ship and no one was allowed to enter. The Order was called upon to investigate, having the most knowledge of the living metal.

“I wasn’t part of those chosen to go, but I know all too well what happened and what they found. Savik was not the same great protector we had entrusted the SunStriker with. From the moment they entered the ship, they could feel him screaming for help, but Savik stopped them from leaving. He—he slaughtered them, all of them. Great masters of the order, who had known him since he first arrived on Lacarea, torn apart without mercy.”

“But why?” I asked. “Why would he go bad?”

Izar shook his head. “I don’t know. There was nothing in the records that could account for the sudden change, but it happened. But this massacre was not the end. The worst had yet to come.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to message me on Instagram @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofab1tch or leave a comment down below. I love to hear from you!


	15. The End of the First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for sleep. The real work is just about to begin.

“What the fuck is worse than murdering a bunch of people?”

“Turning them into Thearns,” Milo answered grimly. “Twisting every aspect of a being into something so dark and painful, not a shred of goodness is left.”

“Is that what’s happening with the prisoners they took from Earth?” I asked, alarmed. “Shouldn’t we be trying to rescue them?” I stood up, not sure what exactly I was planning on doing, but I knew I had to do something.

Milo shook his head, gently guiding me back down to my seat with a firm hand on my wrist. “Relax. Few prisoners are selected to be turned into Thearns, as the process is a very long, very difficult one. They are careful with their selection to prevent wasting time and resources on a subject that will fail. It is likely that any human captured will not begin the process for quite some time, and it is reversible to a point very near the end.”

“That doesn’t the fact that others are being turned even as we speak,” Izar said, a little stern. “Humans are not the only ones here.” His gaze searched my face for a few moments before he softened. “You are not wrong in wanting to save your people. We must begin to make preparations to leave and begin fighting Savik’s influence as soon as possible.”

Zion cleared his throat. “Perhaps, for now, it would best to leave the preparations until after we get some sleep.” He nodded towards Emic. The short alien was curled into a ball on the ground, head resting on his arms as a makeshift pillow. His chest slowly expanded and deflated, completely at ease in his dream. “It’s been a long day and some of us are pretty worn out.”

Izar smiled. “A good point. However, Milo and I, as Lacareans, have little need for sleep. We will do our best to come up with a course of action while you get your required rest.” The two metallic aliens stood, moving towards the door.

“Wait a second. I never fuckin’ agreed to be a part of the team,” Charlie spoke up. He kept his voice low, though I wasn’t sure if he was tired or actually respecting that Emic was asleep. “Keep that in mind when you’re makin’ your plans.”

The prophet’s eyes widened. “Surely after listening to all of that, you feel some sort of need to act.”

He crossed his arms. “That your fuckin’ plan? Make me feel guilty because some dude went nuts with power? Think again. I just want to survive.”

“Well, even if we get off the planet, what are you going to do?” I asked, an idea suddenly forming in my head. “You can’t really go back to Earth, with it being conquered and all. So, your options are what? Try to not get captured again on an occupied planet or travel the universe trying not to get captured while also being seriously out of your depth? Dunno about you, but those sound a whole lot riskier than being aboard a super ship literally built to defy the baddest alien in existence.”

Charlie stared at me, face blank and void of anger for the first time since I’d met him. _Which isn’t all that long ago now that I think about it. Was it really just this morning?_

I shrugged. “But I mean, it’s your choice, dude.”

There was a moment of silence, and then a very soft, very angry, “fine,” was growled from the grimace on Charlie’s face.

Izar beamed at me and I sent him a thumbs-up, making sure Charlie hadn’t seen. He and Milo left, and we got to work pulling out blankets and starting to settle down for the night. If it even was night. Without a natural light source, it was impossible to tell, but then again, we were also on an alien planet and more than likely their days and nights were different from Earth’s if they existed at all.

I draped a blanket over Emic before setting up a couple a few feet away so that I wasn’t sleeping directly on the ground. He shifted, eyes opening partway. He smiled when he saw me above him. “Did I fall asleep?”

“Yeah, but you can go back to sleep. The rest of us are.” I glanced at where Zion was laying half hidden by some boxes, then to Charlie who was sleeping with his back pressed against the wall, near the door. “Want another blanket?”

He shook his head, eyes already sliding closed again. I smiled, quietly wishing him goodnight before I went to my little ‘bed’ and settled in. The one lantern left on was left on the lowest setting, allowing for just enough light so we could make our way to it in an emergency. I closed my eyes, focusing on relaxing and letting sleep overtake me. It should have been easy, given how exhausted I felt after the longest day of my life, but it wasn’t happening.

I shifted, trying different positions, but sleeping on the ground with only a few thin blankets for padding wasn’t exactly comfortable. Sighing, I moved to lay on my stomach, laying my head on my hands and prayed for sleep. Something shifted to my left and before I could react, Emic laying down next to me. His back pressed against my side, curling back up into a ball.

Neither of us said anything, but I was sure we were both awake. After a long pause, I moved to mirror his posture, though I didn’t curl up quite so tightly, so our backs were pressed against each other. Slowly, I felt myself begin to drift off.


	16. Morning Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie isn't good at making friends and suffers for it.

“Don’t you two look precious,” Charlie scoffed, nudging my foot with a heavy boot. “Time to get up. They want us on the ship for a ‘team meeting’ or some shit.”

He wandered away before either of us could fully process what he was saying. I sat up, watching his back vanish out the door. “Sure knows how to wake someone up, doesn’t he?” I remarked, turning to look at Emic.

The pink alien looked like the definition of ‘not a morning person.’ His pastel colored hair stuck up in every direction, his eyes weren’t even fully open yet, and a little drool clung to his chin. He squinted at me, clearly not capable of processing what was happening.

I chuckled, bringing up a corner of the blanket to rub away the drool. “You awake in there, Em?”

He shook his head, leaning back to return to sleep. I caught his arm and kept him upright. “C’mon, kitty. We need to get up. Gotta face the day.” I gave him my brightest smile, the one that always made Knox threaten to punch me for looking so _damn happy to be awake at the ass crack of dawn._

The look I received from Emic wouldn’t lead me to believe his thoughts weren’t far off from that. “Wanna sleep more.”

“We have a team meeting to go to.” I stood and offered him a hand up, which he sluggishly took. “Maybe they’ll have the space equivalent to coffee and you’ll finally wake up.”

Emic grumbled incoherently, rubbing his eyes. He half-heartedly tried to organize his hair, but all he was doing was making it worse. “Here, let me.” I reached up and methodically combed my fingers through the pink locks, which were silky soft to the touch, into something more presentable. In the end, it wasn’t necessarily neat, but he didn’t look like he’d just been electrocuted. “There.”

“Thanks. Do you want me to…?” he trailed off, glancing up at my hair. “It’s a bit…”

“That’d be great.” I leaned down a little, so it was easier for him to reach. His touch was gentle and careful, efficiently flattening my hair into a neater shape. “Thanks.”

“Will you dipshits stop flirting and hurry the fuck up?” Charlie demanded from the doorway. His glare was already firmly in place, but he wasn’t shouting, so I considered it an improvement. “You’re gross to look at.”

I frowned, walking past him with Emic at my heels. “We’re not flirting,” I informed him. “It’s called having a friend, Charlie. They do nice stuff for each other.” My gaze traveled to his bedhead, smirking. “Maybe if you asked nicely, one of us might fix that for you.”

His scowl deepened. “Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit. Not in the mood.”

With a smile, I turned away, heading down the tunnels towards the ship. Milo, Izar, and Zion were all waiting in the lounge room when we entered. They were huddled around a projection in the middle of the room. “Oh, good, you’re here,” Izar said. “We can get started now.”

Charlie flopped onto one of the couches and Emic and I took one of the other ones. “Did you come up with a plan?” Emic asked.

“To escape the Thearn forces waiting for us when we try to leave the planet, yes,” Milo answered. “After that, there are too many variables to make a viable plan.”

“Without your help anyways, Emic,” Izar cut in. “Our best option would be to unite with whatever rebellion forces have already been established, and you are the only one here that has any contact with one.”

Emic flushed at suddenly having everyone’s attention on him. “Uh, well, I was only actually part of it for a few weeks and that was mostly just training. I missed my exit point though, so I can’t tell you where they are. I might know how to get in contact with them though.”

“Might,” Charlie repeated under his breath. I shot him a look.

Izar nodded. “Rebels would no doubt run things close to the chest, with Savik’s empire being so far spread. It’s safer to keep as little dangerous information in inexperienced hands as possible.”

“Sorry I can’t be of more help,” Emic said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s more than any of us could offer,” Zion said, purposefully not looking at Charlie.

“Of course, this only matters if we manage to get off the planet,” Milo said, directing our attention to the screen. “After much thought and consideration, Izar and I came up with this plan. What we have to do is this…”


	17. First Fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go for a ride.

“I still think this is a pretty shit idea,” Charlie said from my right side. We were sitting at the front of the control room at the two piloting stations. “I have no idea what I’m doing up here, and I sure as hell know he doesn’t.”

“Hey!”

Izar shook his head. “Don’t worry. The ship will guide you. Just try and feel its life force. Let it move you through the steps.”

“Sounds like a load of bullshit,” he mumbled under his breath.

I stared at the control panels in front of me. There were too many buttons and screens for me to figure out. “Wouldn’t it be better for Emic or Milo to fly this? At least until we learn how to properly?” I asked.

“You’ll be able to do it,” Izar said, a tone of annoyance creeping into his voice. “Give it a try at least.”

Sighing I leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes. Beneath my palms, I could feel the pulse of the ship through the armrests. I focused on that, trying to feel in touch with the ship’s, what? Consciousness? They said it was aware, but did it have actual thoughts like we do?

“You’re not focusing,” Charlie said. “I can hear your brain trying to think from here.”

“I am.”

“Not.”

“You’re not. Shut up.”

Emic came into the room, followed by Milo. “We looked over the engines and our exit point.” The pink alien sat down at one of the side chairs. “We’re good for take off as soon as you’re ready.”

“The last of the supplies are on board as well,” Zion announced as he entered, making his way to the captain’s chair. “Any progress up here?”

“No because this makes no sense,” Charlie answered. He ran a hand through his hair. “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Izar gritted his teeth, growing impatient. “You will have to do something. Perhaps actually give piloting a try.”

Charlie turned back to the console. “Fine. You want me to fly? Then let’s fly.” He pressed a few buttons at random and the engines burned to life.

“Hey, what’re you doing?” I shouted, alarmed. I reached to pull his hands away from the controls, but it was too late.

He pushed the joysticks forward and the ship jerked forward, speeding through the tunnels. The tunnel before us was only barely lit by the lights on the front of the ship and the computer guidance was only marginally better. Yet, Charlie was making hairpin turns and going at an incredibly fast speed for the closeness of the space we were in.

 _Oh, God, I’m gonna die._ I held tighter on to my seat, glad that I had decided to attach my harness before this. “Charlie, for fuck’s sake slow down,” I grunted.

“Fuck off. I got this.” His eyes were laser focused ahead of him, hands steady on the controls. “How much longer till we get to the surface?”

“At the pace, we’re going?” Emic answered. “About five seconds.”

“I’d suggest holding on tight then.”

We burst from the surface of the planet at breakneck speed, immediately into the magnetic storm. The ride was considerably smoother than when we came in, but the ship still shuddered with each heavy impact of debris.

“We’re almost through the storm,” Milo said. “Be ready for a fight.”

“I still think it’d be better to _actually_ fight,” Charlie said.

Izar rolled his eyes. “You just took the longest time to fly the DayBreak, yet you think we’re ready for a full-on battle? I realize you are impulsive, but I did not think you were stupid.”

“Exiting the storm in five,” Emic interrupted, “four, three, two, one.”

Open space was a welcome relief after the constricting tunnels and dangerous confusion of the storm. “Oh, my God. We didn’t die.”

“Not just yet,” Zion said. “Thearn ships have noticed us. Emic start calibrating for the lightspeed jump. Charlie, keep us out of their range.”

“What should I do?” I asked.

Zion stared at me for a moment. “See if you can get any of the weapons systems working. We’ll probably need them.”

“Over here,” Milo said, pointing to the console on the opposite side as Emic. “Aim well.”

Clicking the release button on my harness, I got up, walking quickly across the room. Or I would have if Charlie hadn’t turned sharply, making the ship jolt. I felt with a high pitched squeak onto Zion’s lap. “Sorry,” I exclaimed as the older man moved me back to my feet. “Could you maybe keep this thing steady?” I snapped at Charlie.

“I’m trying to keep us alive,” he shouted back. “Where are those guns?”

I squared my jaw, moving to the station Milo had pointed out. Like before, it was just a jumble of buttons and lights without any real meaning. Charlie made it look like he’d been doing it for years when he flew. Even Emic didn’t seem to be having a tough time with technology that was alien even to him.

“Emic, where're those calibrations?”

“Almost done!” he shouted back.

Charlie swore under his breath as he narrowly dodged a plasma blast from one of the ship’s huge guns. “Could you hurry it up? I can’t dodge these assholes forever!”

_Guns. C’mon, be useful, Karter. You can do it. It’s your destiny._

“Done! Everyone hold on!”

The lightspeed jump happened almost immediately, jetting us far and away to safety. Or as safe as we could get. Our first real flight together was already over.

And I had done nothing.


	18. On to Chetelene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From one planet and onto another

Izar breathed out a sigh of relief. “Well, we have managed to get away from them for now. Well done. You’ll be heroes of the universe yet.” I ignored the way his eyes darted to me for a second.

I headed back to the front, flopping into the seat next to Charlie. He barely spared me a glance. “Froze up again?” the teen asked, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn’t hear. “You should really get over that before you get us killed.” The words to fight back wouldn’t come out so I stayed quiet. “Hey, guys,” he said, raising his voice, “where are we going now? Gettin’ sick of flying in circles.”

“Chetelene,” Emic said. “I’m sending you the course now. We should have come off the jump not too far away.”

“Why didn’t we jump right to it?” Charlie grumbled, adjusting the ship’s course to head towards the planet.

“There is always the risk that a jump could be tracked,” Milo answered. “If we had jumped straight to Chetelene, it would give away our plans to go there.”

“What if they had followed us?” Zion asked.

“We’d jump somewhere else and then come back when it’s safe, right?” I asked.

Izar nodded, smiling. “Exactly, Karter. But given that we were not followed, this gives us the chance to adjust to the ship properly. There are still a few minor systems that have yet to be turned on, so Milo and I will attend to that. In the meanwhile, please stay here and strengthen your bond with the ship and each other.” Charlie made a sound of derision. “It may save your life later on, so I would not take this time for granted.”

The two Lacareans started towards the door. “Oh, Zion, perhaps it would be better for you to come with us. So we may discuss future training for the team,” Milo said. The older human nodded, following them out of the control room.

“How’re you doing it?” I asked once the door had closed. My eyes scanned over Charlie’s control panel, comparing it to mine.

Charlie glared at me. “Fuck off. Learn how to fly it on your own.”

“Dude, help me out. Just a little.” I sighed. “Do you hear it as like a voice in the back of your head telling you what to do? Or is it like something’s guiding your hands?”

“Neither. I just fuckin’ did it. Shut up.”

“Charlie, you can’t tell me off for not doing anything and then not help me figure out what to do.”

“Go ask your pink boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I corrected, feeling my face heat up a little. “But I will, seeing as he actually knows how to be a friend instead of a complete asshole.”

I got up and walked over to Emic. “Charlie’s a dick,” I announced, making sure it was loud enough for him to hear it. He flipped me off. “I don’t understand the whole ‘connect with the ship’ thing.”

“It’s weird, I’ll admit that.” The pink alien smiled at me, trying to look encouraging. “You’ll get it. You just have to kind of let go? Just accept that you don’t know what you’re doing and then you just sort of do it…” His face scrunched up. “That doesn’t really make sense, but I can’t think of any other way to explain it.”

“It’s better than what I got out of Charlie.” He giggled, and I smiled. At least I could still amuse people. Maybe that would be my role: to make sure everyone didn’t get too intense and stressed out. Go figure. I finally had the chance to be a hero and I was just the goof-off comic relief. “I guess I’ll give it another try. If Charlie lets me, of course.”

Emic gave me a double thumbs up. “You can do it, Karter. I believe in you.”

“Thanks, Em.” _I just wish everyone else did, too._

I didn’t even bother to try and make conversation with Charlie when I sat down this time. Ignoring his presence completely, I tried to do what Emic said, except that I didn’t know what to do and then do it. It was easy to accept that I had no idea what I was doing, that was the whole problem, but I couldn’t figure out what he meant by just do it. My thoughts chased each other around in circles for a while as I watched space drift by.

“Emic, we’re coming up on that planet,” Charlie spoke suddenly, making me jump. “Go tell Zion and them.”

“Don’t be so bossy,” Emic snipped before slipping out of his chair. “Be right back.”

“Little shit,” Charlie muttered when Emic had left.

“I could say the same about you.”

“Thought you were taking a nap.”

“Just letting you fly a bit longer before I take over.”

“Right.”

 _Stop letting him get to you,_ I told myself. _He’s not worth it. He’s just an angry asshole._ My mind flashed back to when we’d first been dropped down to that room with Emic and Zion. The look on his face when he realized when there weren’t any doors; it hadn’t been angry. It was more like pure terror and dread. Of course, then he had covered it with anger, but I still remembered that expression.

I looked at Charlie out of the corner of my eye. He was still scowling at the controls like they’d offended his honor or some shit. Maybe there was something else under that tough, angry exterior, something more vulnerable than he’d care to admit.

The other four team members entered the control room again, interrupting the thought. “How far are we from Chetelene?” Zion asked.

“The fuck should I know?” Charlie snapped.

“He was asking me.” Emic rolled his eyes, answering Zion’s question. “Three minutes. But we’ll be able to see it once we come around this moon.”

The room stayed silent as we waited for the path to clear. Once we got passed the large purplish white moon, I searched the space ahead of us for the planet, excited and being able to properly see an alien planet. What I saw wasn’t good.

Chetelene was burning.


	19. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to save a planet

“Is it supposed to look like that?” Milo asked nervously.

Emic shook his head, fingers already dancing across the console. “No, it’s not. It’s a Thearn attack. They beat us here.”

“How could they know we were coming?” Zion demanded to know. “I thought they hadn’t tracked the jump? And even then they shouldn’t be able to know?”

“Rebellion groups have been meeting there for a while though,” Emic said. “They must have finally caught on and attacked.”

Charlie looked back at Zion. “What do you want us to do?”

All eyes turned to the tall human. He swallowed. “I don’t think we can leave them to fight on their own. I know we’re not really prepared for this, but I think we can at least give the rebel groups a chance to fight back. Charlie, take us in. Emic, try and get in contact with the rebels. Any group will do. Karter.” He turned to me. “We need to be able to attack. Don’t let us down.”

_Wow. No pressure._

I moved to get back up, but something told me to stay put.

“Karter, what are you doing?”

“Hang on.”

It was a weird sort of feeling, like when Emic and I had been in the tunnels and I _knew_ we should go left instead of right. I knew I should stay where I was, even though I should move to the weapons console. But there was something that bothered me about that.

“Why are the weapons over there?” I muttered to myself. “Why are there two pilot seats?”

“Why the fuck are you focusing on the fuckin’s ship design _now_ of all times?” Charlie asked. The enemy ships ahead of us had taken notice of us now and were turning to head in our direction. “For fuck’s sake, will you do your job?”

“Alright. I will.”

I slammed my hand down on a large red button. For a half a second, I thought nothing would happen, but then the console changed, the screen showing a targeting system, which was filled with enemy ships, and what I thought were different types of projectiles. “This _is_ weird,” I said, pressing a series of buttons that I had no idea what they would do.

“We’re in range. Karter, start firing,” Emic said, voice pitched in fear.

Dragging my finger across the ships on the screen to target them, I selected one of the projectiles and fired. I watched the beams of light fly out of the front of the ship, spreading out to strike the Thearn ships. When they hit, there weren’t explosions like I thought there would be, but they did definitely cause some damage. The smaller ships were completely torn apart, while the others were missing large chunks from their hull.

“Alright, Karter!” Milo cheered. “That’s the way, my boy!”

Brimming with pride at my accomplishment, I prepared another attack, focusing on the nearest large ship. This time, the attack was just one large beam, but it had been aimed at the engine, sending a chain reaction through the entire ship. “Get me closer to the next one,” I told Charlie.

“Don’t fuckin’ tell me what to do.” He gunned it towards the next ship, weaving in and out of the debris left by the destroyed ships. “Just don’t fuckin’ miss.”

“Fighter ships incoming!” Emic announced.

“Karter, take care of them. Charlie, try to get us closer to the planet. We need to keep the Thearns away to give the rebels time. Emic, any word from them?”

“Not yet.”

Charlie grunted, turning the ship sharply to dodge a ship’s line of fire. “They could fuckin’ hurry up about it.”

I sent out a burst of plasma blasts in every direction, effectively driving the fleet of fighter ships back for a moment. It gave me time to properly lock on and destroy another large ship. Several of the fighter ships suddenly stopped steering and continued on their course until they crashed into something. “The fighters are remote controlled,” I realized.

“Karter, focus fire on the larger ships if you can. It’ll be more effective that way,” Zion ordered. “Try and bear with it, Charlie.”

“Where are those fuckin’ rebels?” Charlie wanted to know. His knuckles were turning white on the controls.

We zoomed back and forth in front of the planet, fighting desperately for what felt like ages. I must have destroyed a dozen or more of the huge Thearn ships, along with a countless number of the smaller ones and fighter ships. It was exhausting, but finally, there was a crackle of static.

“…Hello? Hello? Is this the ship fighting the Thearns? Hello?”

“Yes, yes, it is,” Emic answered. He clicked a button and the console before Zion lit up. “All yours, captain.”

“This is Zion, captain the DayBreak. We’re here to help.”


	20. Armor Up

“That was really well done, Karter,” Emic said, throwing an arm around my shoulders in a half hug. “I told you that you could do it.”

I laughed. “I’m still not sure how I did it though.”

“I don’t think any of really do.” The shorter boy laughed. “I’m sure we’ll figure it properly at some point. Maybe.”

“Hurry up you two. The others are waiting,” Milo called from outside the door.

We were in one of the rooms on the lower deck, which turned out to actually be a bedroom. Each of us could have our own, except for Milo and Izar who claimed they didn’t require one. The Thearns had been driven off not long after the rebels had got in contact with us and had rallied their forces to help. We had then been invited to land in Chetelene’s capital city, but first, we had to change. According to Izar, if we were going to be heroes of the universe, we had to look the part.

Down the hall, I could hear Charlie still putting up a fuss while Zion tried to calm him. I silently wished him luck before looking at the two uniforms laid out on the bed. They were black, made of some sort of super durable fabric that was also highly flexible and able to the conditions of space, though only for so long. There was armor to go over it as well, but Milo and Izar were still preparing it.

“Shall we?” I asked.

Emic nodded. We changed quickly, backs turned to each other as much as possible. For as tight as they were, the suits were surprisingly easy to slip on and felt more comfortable than I had thought. I looked down at myself, impressed with how the suit made me look like I had actual muscle. “These aren’t so bad,” I said, turning to look at Emic. I could see the outline of his tail curling around his lower back as it pressed against the suit. “Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

“What?”

“Your tail.”

He blushed. “Ah, no. I’m used to it. It’s hard to come up with a suit design that allows for tails. And anyway, it’s best if I don’t show my tail.”

“Why?”

“It’s considered a bit rude.” I must have still looked confused because he added, “sort of like exposing yourself.”

“O—Oh, okay.” There was an awkward pause. “But then why did you show it to me? If it’s like that?”

“It’s different if you _privately_ show it to someone you’re close to. Having your tail cooped up all the time does get uncomfortable, so it’s not weird to have it out at home when there are no visitors.”

I nodded, understanding. “Oh, cool, cool. Makes sense.”

“Are you two done yet?” Milo asked, opening the door without knocking. _Thank God we finished changing._ “Your armor is ready upstairs. Hurry. We’re expected to meet the rebel leaders soon.”

We followed him out the door and up the stairs. “Why do we have to wear the armor though? Couldn’t we just wear our normal clothes?”

“Heroes don’t wear normal clothes, didn’t you hear?” Charlie snipped sarcastically. He was leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs. He was dressed in black like us, but he’d already gotten his armor. It wasn’t particularly attention-grabbing or heavy. It was lightweight and black like the suit, protecting the important parts of his body. Thin lines of dark blue followed the curves of the armor. It looked cool.

 _He_ looked cool in it.

I sighed, less excited about the armor now. There wasn’t a chance I’d look half as good as that. Milo ushered me and Emic down the hall to the last door on the left. Zion was there, in similar armor to Charlies, only instead of blue, his suit had lines of white.

“Finally,” Izar said. He guided Emic to stand in the middle of what seemed to be some type of weapon storeroom. Various types of guns, bombs, and knives covered the walls. Along the back wall was four tube looking things. Three were empty and now Izar was going to the third one, pulling out the chest piece from a suit of armor and helping Emic into it. “You’ll have to learn how to do this on your own and very quickly, but I still need to make some adjusts for it to fit.”

As he spoke, I realized Emic was practically drowning in the chest plate. He pressed a few buttons on the device and it adjusted so it fits him perfectly. The rest had shrunk to fit him as well, and he no problem pulling on the rest of the armor. Once he finished putting it on, the color lines switched on, turning a bright green.

His eyes widened, tracing over the color, a soft smile playing across his lips.

“Karter, it’s your turn,” Izar said. I barely comprehended the words before he jerked me closer to him, and the next thing I knew the main part of the last suit of armor was being lowered over my head. It was lighter than I thought, though awkwardly wide. “Hold still while I adjust it. You don’t want it to misread and squish you.”

“Can that happen?” Emic asked.

“Not if you stand still.” The armor changed shape quickly, not needing to shrink as much as it needed for Emic, but it did need to lengthen some. “Alright, let’s get the last of it on.”

Milo poked his head in. “The rebel leaders are approaching the ship. Zion and Charlie are in the receiving room. Almost done here?”

“Yeah, almost.”

I pulled on my last boot and stood up, ready to go. Emic and Izar were already moving out of the room to follow after Milo. As I went to go as well, I barely remembered to look down and see what color I had ended up with.

Red lines streaked down the armor like streaks of blood.


	21. Negotiations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet with the rebel leaders.

I made it just in time to take my place next to Emic down in the lounge before the doors opened and several tough looking aliens walked in. They were generally worse for the wear, scarred faces and scarred armor. Seven of them stood in a line across from us, looking us over. I resisted the urge to curl in on myself before the harsh gazes. Emic worried at his bottom lip.

“Alright, I’m ready for the story,” said a particularly gruff alien who stood in the middle. The leader of the leaders I guessed. He plopped down on a couch. “Well?”

“My name is Izar. I am a prophet of the Lacarean Order,” Izar began.

“The Order’s a bloody lot of sissies,” the gruff rebel said. “And you’re not the captain of this ship. That’s who I want to meet.”

“That’d me.” Zion stepped forward. “My name’s Zion. I’m new to this fight though, and this ship. Izar would be much better for answering your questions.”

The alien looked Zion up and down, his black eyes giving away nothing. He had four parallel scratches running diagonally from right to left across his dark purple face. He looked terrifying. “I know plenty about this fight goin’ on, and I don’t really ‘bout your ship. My concern is the people in charge of it.”

“Where are you from?” another rebel demanded to know, a green female with thick tentacles for hair. “I’ve never seen your kind before.”

“We’re from a planet called Earth,” Zion answered. “It was attacked days ago by the Thearns, which is how we came to be here.”

The first rebel stared at him. “You tryin’ tell us this is a Thearn ship you somehow managed to steal?”

“It’s not a Thearn ship,” Izar snapped. “It was made by the Order before Savik completely took over Lacarea. It was made to stop him.”

The rebel leaders muttered amongst themselves. “A ship to stop Savik? Built by the Order?” the green woman repeated. She laughed harshly. “Right. The only ship that stands a chance against the SunStriker is another ship of living metal. If there was such a ship, we’d have heard of it or Savik would have already taken it for himself.”

“Dahlia,” the gruff leader said. “I would not be so quick to assume impossibility.”

The other rebels went still, watching him. “A secret ship of living metal that appears out of nowhere to save this planet from certain doom.” He hummed. “You realize how untrustworthy that sounds, I trust?”

“Why the hell do we have to prove ourselves to you?” Charlie snapped, unable to remain quiet any longer. “We just fuckin’ saved your asses. A little gratitude and trust wouldn’t fuckin’ hurt, ya know. We could’ve fuckin’ left you.”

The rebel leader considered him for a moment, and I thought for sure he’d just fucked everything up. Then the alien smiled, chuckling. “I suppose you’re not far off, kid. But sometimes saving a life is just another way of putting someone in your debt.”

“And sometimes saving a life is just saving a life,” Zion cut in when Charlie opened his mouth to respond. I breathed out a sigh of relief. Whatever that idiot was going to say was not going to do us any favors. “We’re here to ask you to let us help you in fighting Savik and his forces. If you don’t want our help, we will leave peacefully. But we will leave,” he added firmly.

“Then I would suggest getting ready to go.” The gruff alien rose to his feet, turning his back on us.

One of the frailer looking aliens wandered forward a few steps, squinting at the six of us before them. “I don’t see the problem in trusting these ones a little. You have too little faith, Calath.”

“We can’t fight wars with faith.”

“No, but it’s what the people need to keep them strong and fighting.” His pale eyes swept over me, holding my gaze for several seconds as he said, “Faith in others will keep you on your feet. Faith in yourself will make you rise back up, no matter what knocked you down.”

Calath looked back at us over his shoulder. “You’re nuts, old man.” He sighed. “Fine. We’ll discuss terms of an alliance. I’ll send a messenger with details later. But, hear me now, if you so much as _hint_ that you’re lying to me or working for Savik, I’ll string you up and gut you all myself.”

As soon as the threat finished leaving his mouth, the ship flared to life, engines roaring and lights growing brighter. And just as quickly as it started, it stopped.

“Guess the DayBreak doesn’t appreciate that,” Zion said. He offered a half-smile. “Pleasure having you here. We’ll be in touch.”

The rebel leaders glanced at each other, sharing worried, but impressed looks. They slowly filed out, but the old man lingered. “Calath is highly respected as a commander, but he does not trust easily and he does not take well to spies or traitors. He’ll come around to see your use.”

“Thank you for standing up for us,” Izar said. “It is much appreciated.”

“I did it for the cause. Not for you.” His eyes swept over us once more. “Serve the rebellion well. Do not let my words go to waste.” With that, he made his way off the ship.

Milo clapped his hands, smiling cheerily. “That went well.”


	22. Tour of the Ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I drew the shittiest map of this ship to plan out where everything is and I'm still not sure if it makes sense. Don't let me design ships.

Charlie scoffed. “What a bunch of assholes. Why do we have to work with them anyway? We have a badass ship. We could take on this Savik bitch on our own.”

“Yeah, let’s take on an empire that’s been taking over the universe for the past five hundred years,” I said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “That’s a great idea.”

“Better than working with _them.”_

“Charlie,” Zion warned. “We need information that the rebels will have. Troop movements, priority targets, supply lines. We can’t just go attacking every Thearn base we see.”

The teen crossed his arms with a huff, looking the other way. “They still could’ve been a little less suspicious.”

“That’s how a lot of the rebels are though,” EMic said. “There’s been a lot of issues with spies infiltrating the ranks and that usually leads to a lot of people getting wiped out. Calath wasn’t wrong to be a little suspicious of a ship he’s never heard about suddenly popping up.” He smiled brightly even as Charlie turned to glare down at him. “I’m sure he’ll come to trust us soon enough.”

“In the meantime, we need to focus on getting stronger as a team.” Zion glanced at Milo who nodded. “We have started devising a training regimen for us to help with individual combat as well as other skills that will probably come in handy.”

 _This is gonna be fun,_ I thought to myself, sure that there was no way anyone was going to enjoy this.

“For now, the focus is getting you lot used to the ship,” Milo said, “though that also includes me.” He glanced at Izar who was lost in thought. “So, uh, first we’ll start with a nice thorough tour of the ship and you can pick out your bedrooms.”

And so we did. We already knew where the medical and storage room was, as well as the three bedrooms on the lower deck. Charlie claimed the one on the left side, next to the medical room, while Emic and I were left the ones on the right. I took the one of across from Charlie, figuring it would be better. Each bedroom had its own connected bathroom, complete with shower and a weird alien toilet that I really wasn’t excited about trying out.

The top deck was more interesting. There was the control room, of course, with the door to the main engine room on the opposite side of the hallway. We only briefly glanced in there, seeing as only Izar and Emic had any true hope of understanding it. The armory we had seen as well, but next to that was the training deck.

“The engineering that went into this is absolutely incredible,” Milo gushed as he stepped into the large open room. The walls and ceiling were all completely white except for a gray alcove to the left side, which held a computer screen and several cabinets. “This room is capable of producing robots of varying fighting levels, shoot lasers, and change terrain, all depending on the settings one chooses. There are several programs already in the computer now, from basic to advance, but one can also create their own.”

“Cool,” Charlie said. “Is this done yet? I wanna take a nap.”

The sparkle in Milo’s eye darkened and his shoulders hunched a little. “Let’s move on then.” Opposite the training deck was the designated captain’s room. “It’s pretty much the same as the ones down below, just closer to the control room.”

The last room was the last door on the right, next to the engine room. “The kitchen,” Milo stated as we stepped inside. A long dining table took up part of the room. The kitchen part itself wasn’t that different from a professional kitchen back on Earth, though some of the machines and tools were a little strange, but I imagined the food would be as well. “I used the scans we got yesterday when Karter was hurt to ensure that all food products were safe for human consumption. And of course, for Kaithian consumption as well,” he added, with a little nod to Emic.

“That’s great and all,” Charlie started, “but who’s actually gonna cook?”

Milo glanced at Zion for help. “I guess we could take turns…” he said, slowly. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers, expression bright with a flash of inspiration. “We’ll have cooking lessons. That we all know what we’re doing and won’t somehow ruin the food. _And_ it’s a great bonding exercise.”

“I’d rather starve.”

“Then do it,” I said. “ _I_ think that’s a great idea. I’d love to learn to cook alien food.” Emic nodded in agreement.

“It’s settled then,” Milo said. “I’ll add that to the schedule. That concludes the tour. You may go back to your rooms and settle in for a bit. I’ll use the announcing system to call you when it is time to gather.”

Charlie walked away, grumbling under his breath about what Milo could do with the announcing system. I glared at his back, annoyed at his attitude. Turning to Milo, I asked, “Hey, what sort of thing will we be training to fight with? Like is there already a designated weapon for each of us? Like how we all had our own role?”

The gold alien shook his head. “No, you are allowed to choose whichever weapon calls you. There are many in the armory, but there will be time to pick one out later.”

“Cool cool.”

I made my way back downstairs, hesitating for a moment at the door to my new room, before walking further down to Emic’s. He opened it just after I knocked, startling me. “I was about to go find you,” he giggled. “It’s boring just sitting in here.”

“Well, fret not, for I am here now.”

He laughed at that. “Tell me more about Earth. What was it like before the Thearns attacked? Did you have a family? What did you like to do?

“Hey, slow down. I’ll tell you, but only if you tell me more about your planet. Deal?”

“Deal.”


	23. Training Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karter learns something interesting about Emic. The team begins training properly.

We whiled away the time by trading stories of our home planets. I learned that his kind came in a variety of bright colors besides pink and that it was due to the brightly colored foliage of the planet, which led me to think of Kaithia as a sort of technicolor forest paradise. In turn, I told him about the little, hidden beach that was just a short drive from where I lived, and the endless ocean that it led it to. I told him about sneaking over there with my brother in the middle of the night, and staring up at a sky so full of stars, it seemed more flickering lights than darkness.

“Maybe you saw this planet’s star that night,” Emic said when I described it. “That’d be really cool, don’t you think?”

I smiled at the thought. “Yeah. Guess so.” Rolling over onto my stomach, I looked over at him. “You said your planet was taken over years ago. How old were you when you had to leave? You seem to remember it pretty good.”

“Ah, I think I was about six or seven? By our count anyways. Old enough to have some good memories.” He closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth turning down some. “It’s been nearly twenty years since I’ve laid eyes on my planet. I hope we are able to accomplish what Izar says we can. I want my people to be able to go home again.”

“Yeah, I totally get yo—wait _twenty_ years?” I repeated, brain at a dead stop at the thought.

He cocked his head to the side, confused by my reaction. “Yes? Twenty years and a few weeks, to be more precise. The day the Thearns took over has become a day of mourning for us.”

“But—that would make you twenty-seven.”

“Yes.”

“But that’s not possible.”

Emic’s frowned, growing annoyed that I couldn’t seem to grasp this concept. “I can assure you I know my own age.”

“But you look so young!”

“Thanks.” He laughed. “Did you think I was younger than you all this time?”

“Yes.”

“Kaithians mature slowly. Legally, we are adults at twenty-seven, but physically we don’t reach true adulthood until twenty-eight or twenty-nine. So comparatively, we are about the same age.”

“How long do you usually live?”

“About one hundred and fifty years. Humans?”

“Around ninety, if you’re lucky.”

Emic considered that for a moment, opening his mouth to respond when Milo interrupted by way of the speakers. “Team DayBreak please meet in the training room. Now, please.”

“Guess it’s time.” I got up off the floor, offering a hand for Emic. We headed back up to the training room, following just behind Charlie who pretended we didn’t exist.

Zion and Milo were waiting on the training deck for us. Izar was missing, and now that I thought about it, he’d disappeared at some point along the tour as well. _Weird._

“Alright, let’s begin. I’m sure you’re all excited about being able to hit a bunch of robots, but that’ll have to wait until next time. For now, you need to get used to the suits. Each one is equipped with a light jetpack. These won’t be able to get you off the ground for too long, but they will help give you a boost and slow your descent if you happen to fall off a cliff. Much like the ship, they are operated by telepathic link.”

“Wait, are these made of living metal as well?” Emic said, looking at the armor covering his arm with twinkling eyes.

Milo beamed at him. “Yes, they are, Emic. A very astute observation. They are part of the same deposit as this ship, and so your connection with the ship will help you with the suit.” He cleared his throat. “Aside from the jetpack, the suits will also increase your strength and speed, but this also has to be activated through a telepathic command. The point of these next few exercises is to give you the chance to work out how to use these abilities in your own way without the distraction of having to fight as well.”

He walked over to the alcove where the controls were. “I’m setting the room to have many different levels. Try to move from one end to the other, using the suits abilities. Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Oh, wait! I almost forgot.” He came scurrying out of the alcove with hands full of round objects. Helmets. “They were not required before during the meeting, but these are a very important part of your armor.”

“Of course,” I said with a laugh, taking one of the helmets. “Gotta protect my head melon.” The joke got a muffled laugh out of Zion and Emic, and an annoyed sigh from Charlie. Putting on the helmet, it clicked into place with the rest of the armor.

Milo nodded when we all had our helmets on. “Now you look like proper soldiers. Except for not having weapons.” He shrugged, heading back to the alcove. “Alright, heroes, get ready for day one of training.”

Charlie rolled his eyes, knees bending slightly as he got into a ready position. “Fuckin’ bring it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to contact me on IG @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofb1tch or just leave a comment below. I love talking to people and the encouragement is always super welcome.


	24. Charlie, Space Emo Genius

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karter has some thoughts on the team and Charlie complains about stuff.

Training was… hard. I had thought that after learning to work the ship, this stuff would be a little easier for me, but I was wrong. Training turned out to be an endless repeat of falls, slowly climbing back up to where I had been, only to fall back down and land hard. The training room floor had risen into uneven blocks, some of which made a sort of uneven stairs, that I struggled to get up, while the others seemed to have no issue practically flying past me.

I began to notice a pattern though, as I watched the others slowly learn how to use the suits. Charlie got it almost right away, all instinct and impulse. He had no issue leaping off one of the higher pillars to a much lower one, the jetpack firing a little late, but he still managed to stick the landing. He’d turned back to smirk at us as if daring to do better.

Emic was next after that, a little more methodical in his way, but confident enough in his physical ability that even if he couldn’t use the suit, he wouldn’t get hurt. Before I knew it, he was zooming around with ease, nearly as fast as Charlie.

Zion was cautious. He focused on using the jetpack to take off in order to reach a higher shelf, rather than for landing instead. Once he’d mastered that, it was only a little more practice before he’d gotten used to it.

The point was that in their own way, they just went for it. They didn’t hesitate. And then there was me, hesitating at every jump. My mom had always called me a worrier, and Knox was constantly telling me off for overthinking something, but I couldn’t help it sometimes.

I got up to a decently high pillar, feeling exhausted even though we’d been at this for less than an hour. Taking a deep breath, I thought back to when I’d controlled the ship, how it had felt and what I had been thinking. _I can do this. I have to trust myself and the ship. I can do it._

Looking over the edge, I swallowed thickly, realizing I was a bit higher than I thought. There was a slightly lower pillar nearby, across a gap just too large to jump on my own: a small goal to start with. _If I fire the pack as I jump, it should give me enough boost to make it without going too wild._

“It’s not that far. Just pretend it’s not that high. This is fine. It’s all good,” I muttered to myself. Taking a deep breath, I backed up a step and with as much of a running start as I could get, leaped off the edge. The pack hummed to life, but failed to fire properly, so rather than landing like I had planned, I hit the edge of it.

Scrambling, I managed to find some tiny purchase in the surface, clinging onto it for dear life while my feet flailed uselessly against the side. Someone landed lightly in the space before me, and I didn’t have to look up to see who it was. His hand grabbed my arm and pulled me up like I was a bag of feathers.

“For someone with such a small brain, you fuckin’ think too much.” Charlie snorted at his own joke. I debated if hitting him would help activate the suits super strength. “If you’re not gonna be useful, hurry up and find someone to replace you.”

He sped off, stupidly graceful as he bounced off the sides of the pillars like some space ninja. “Fuck you,” I said after him.

My eyes found Emic and Zion together at the other end of the room, laughing as they raced each other back and forth. _If you weren’t so shit at this, you’d be able to join them,_ some nasty voice in the back of my head whispered.

 _Fuck you,_ I told it, jumping off the edge. As the ground approached with speed, I squeezed my eyes shut, praying for the jetpack to fire. It did, but I still ended up crashing clumsily into the ground, stumbling against a pillar to catch myself. “Keep eyes open when landing. Good idea. Yeah. Okay.”

Training ended shortly after that. In the end, I could only manage to use the suit half the time and ended up covered in bruises. Milo set the room back to normal and we met in the middle. “Alright, Izar has prepared us all a nice lunch, so if you want to go back to your rooms and freshen up a bit, we’ll all be meeting in the kitchen. Don’t be late or you won’t get any food.”

“The fuck are we supposed to change into?” Charlie asked. “All we have is our nasty ass clothes we’ve been wearing.”

“There was a supply of clothing of all sizes in storage. Clothing that will fit you was moved to your rooms while you were training,” Milo said pleasantly. “It’s all we have for now, but if you wish for something different, you may look for an alternative during our outing into the city later today.”

“Outing?” Charlie repeated, repulsed.

“Into the city?” I said at the same moment.

“Of course. As future heroes of the universe, you must see and be seen by the people you save. I’ve prepared a brief presentation on the cultures and customs of Chetelene for you during lunch. It’ll be quite entertaining if I say so myself, so look forward to it.”

“Ugh, this is gonna suck,” remarked Charlie as the three of us headed downstairs.

I stuck my tongue out at his back. “Cheer up, Charlie. Maybe they’ll have a space Hot Topic.”

“Seven billion people on Earth and countless aliens in the universe and I got thrown in a cell with _you._ ”

“You’ll grow to love me with time.”

“Not if I kill you first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe the month is nearly over already. I'm well on my way to getting the word count, but there's no way the actual novel will be finished by then, so I'll be continuing to write it after November ends. I may start spreading out the chapters though, so it won't be every day. I'll decide when I get there. If you have an opinion, questions, or want to talk to someone, pls message me. I love you all and I adore talking to people (on the internet lol)
> 
> Instagram @jacksonofabitch  
> Tumblr @jacksonofb1tch


	25. The City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sadly there is no space Hot Topic this time. But Charlie is King of the Angsty Teens anways

The city was a chaotic mess of alien technology, aliens of every different race it seemed, and the general business that came with having a population living in a small space. It was exciting and terrifying, and maybe a little dizzying, but all in a good way. We wandered the streets a bit, Milo pouting out different buildings and monuments built to commemorate great rebels that had died in the fight against Savik.

Izar had rejoined us at some point during lunch, though he hardly participated, too lost in his own thoughts. Even now he drifted behind the group a little, uninterested in the city around us.

For all Milo had said about heroes needing to be seen, hardly anyone paid attention to us as we strolled through the city. The clothes that had been left to us were surprisingly normal. I had been expecting some sort of robe thing like Izar and Milo wore, but I guess that was more of an Order thing. They weren’t far off from Earth clothes, but silky and loose, coming in shades of green and blue. It reminded me a bit of elf clothing, elegant and flowy.

We finally arrived at a large shiny building that looked almost entirely made of glass. “Here we are. Our destination,” Milo said.

Charlie looked up at the tall building, raising an eyebrow. “What is this? Rebel headqua—”

“Shush!” Milo shushed him. “Subtlety, Charlie. We don’t know who may be listening. We have been entrusted with a great secret. We can’t let them down already.”

The gold alien turned away and marched up the steps to the building. “So, there _is_ a time for us to let them down later?” he asked, glancing at us.

“Charlie, now’s not that time to grow a sense of humor,” Zion admonished. “Let’s go before he gets too far ahead.”

We hurried after him, barely catching up before he’d left the large lobby. Down a short hall we went, and then we were being ushered into a large elevator. I expected it to take us up, but instead, it started to move down. Immediately, I could _feel_ Charlie tense up next to me, and it only grew as we kept going farther and farther down. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, finding his expression carefully blank, but there was the tiniest hint of panic in his eyes as he stared at the doors ahead of us.

_This is going to be good._

 

“That literally could not have gone any worse,” Zion burst out as soon as we got back to the ship and the door had closed behind us. “Charlie, what the hell were you thinking? You _knew_ we had to come to some kind of truce with them. You _knew_ why. So, would you mind explaining _how_ you thought doing something like that could possibly help us?”

The teen in question was already making his way towards the hall, arms crossed and every inch of his body tense, though with anger or something else, I couldn’t tell. “Fuck off, Zion. Just because they fuckin’ decided you were the captain doesn’t mean you can fuckin’ order me around.” He spat the words over his shoulder like venom before vanishing through the door.

“Ugh,” Zion groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. He flopped onto a couch. “Milo, I think training’s canceled for today.”

“An acceptable decision in light of recent circumstances.” Milo made a mark on the tablet he was carrying. “Of course, if anyone does wish to train on their own, I will be happy to help set up the training room.” He flashed a smile at me and Emic before gliding out of the room, following after a still silent Izar.

“I’d suggest getting some rest, you two,” Zion said. “I suspect we’ll have to leave at a moment’s notice and I’m not sure when you’ll get the chance to relax again.”

Emic left the room, glancing back at me, but I motioned for him to keep going. I looked over Zion’s tired posture, trying to think of the right thing to say. “You’re really good at giving orders,” is what came out. “I, uh, mean, you can make decisions even in stressful situations, and I know we haven’t been through a whole lot yet, I feel like you’re going to make a really good leader.” I scratched the back of my neck, face growing warm. “Uh, yeah. Also, I think Charlie’s claustrophobic. And that’s why he freaked out.”

Zion’s forehead wrinkled as he thought it over. “I guess that could explain part of it. He still needs to get that temper of his under control though. It’s going to get us into bigger trouble than just this one day.”

I shrugged, smiling. “I guess we all have something we need to work on. But hey, all heroes have to start somewhere. Guess this is where we do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'you're not the boss of me (space) dad!' 
> 
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch


	26. Cooking Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does not contain actual cooking lessons

Emic and I lazed around in my room for a while after that, talking occasionally before eventually dozing off curled up together on my bed. Milo came to fetch us just before dinner, asking if either were interested in a quick tutorial of the kitchen. The pink alien groaned, rolling over and burying himself further under the covers in response. Laughing, I rolled out of the bed, ignoring his muffled pleas to come back.

“That’s the spirit,” Milo cheered when I followed him out of my room and towards the stairs. “It’s always best to learn as much as you can ahead of time so you’re not floundering to catch up later on.”

I hummed in agreement, glancing at the training room as we passed. “Later on, could you show me how to work some of the computer stuff? Like to start up the training room and get info on planets and stuff?”

“Shouldn’t be too difficult to manage. Anyone is capable of accessing the database, so with a bit of instruction, you’ll be as proficient as I am, I’m sure.”

“Don’t overestimate my abilities too much,” I said as we entered the kitchen. “I’m not so sure I’ll ever get the hang of this stuff.”

Milo pulled on a frilly apron over his robes that looked absolutely ridiculous. “Nonsense. You just need more time than the others. I’m sure once you find the best way to learn it, it won’t be long before you’re besting the rest of them. In some things at least. I doubt anyone will best Charlie in punching.”

I snorted. “That’s true. Bet if we could just piss him off and aim him in the right direction, he could take down Savik all on his own.”

“If only it were so easy,” Milo said with a sigh. “Anyways. On to cooking! This here is a terrahan…”

 

An hour later I placed the last dish on the table and stood back to admire our work. It was a little fancier than the other meals we’d had; Milo had wanted to show me as wide a range of things as possible. It smelled heavenly and Emic appeared towards the end, drawn by the amazing scent.

“What a lovely spread,” Milo said, gazing at the table full of food with pride. “Excellent work, Karter.”

“Should I go get the others?” As I spoke, Zion and Izar came in together, talking quietly. Izar must have finally gotten over whatever was bothering him. “Oh. Well, I’ll just get Charlie then.”

Zion tensed a bit at the mention of the other human’s name. “Maybe just tell him there’s food here if he wants it,” he suggested casually. “Don’t try to force him to come if he isn’t feeling like it.”

“Will do.” I headed downstairs, turning right to knock on Charlie’s door.

It opened with a whoosh, almost causing me to knock on Charlie instead. He was back in his armor again. “What? I’m not fuckin’ apologizing for what I said. I don’t want to hear your dumbass speech about ‘the good of the team’ or whatever nonsense. Fuck off.”

He tried to push past me, and I tried to not let him. Charlie won. “What are you doing? Going to go fight someone?” I asked.

“Gonna get Milo to set up the damn training room for me. Need to do something.”

“Milo’s busy.” He glared at me and I did my best not to flinch. “I came to tell you that we’re eating dinner now. You’re welcome to join us, but you’ll have to wait for Milo to finish before he can set up the training room for you.”

“He can do it now.”

I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow at him. “You’re an asshole, you know that? You act like you don’t care or need anyone, but you still expect up to bend and do as you say. You’re a bully and I have no idea why the DayBreak would choose someone like you.” Spinning on my heel, I headed back upstairs.

“’Cause it needed someone actually capable of doing something, I imagine,” Charlie called after me.

I didn’t turn back around.

Charlie didn’t join us for dinner that night, but I couldn’t get his words out of my head. I tried to laugh and joke with the others as much as I could, trying to distract myself, yet it always came back around to that. Did the DayBreak need someone like Charlie? Did it really need someone like me, who wasn’t even able to do something as basic as operate the stupid suit?

Maybe… maybe I was meant to be more like Charlie. I had to become tougher and smarter and _do_ more.

 _I could do that. I could become useful to the team._ I could contribute to the effort somehow, it was just a matter of figuring out how to do it. Milo would probably be able to help me with that.

Later as we cleared the dishes from the table and put them into the space dishwasher, I asked, “Hey, Milo. About teaching me the ship’s technology, could we maybe start today?”

Milo blinked at me, surprised. “Ah, are you sure you want to start tonight? It’s been a pretty long, eventful day for all of us...” He trailed off and I caught on to what he was trying to say.

“Oh, yeah. You’re right.” I yawned just then. “Actually, I am pretty tired right now. Tomorrow then?” He nodded appreciatively. “Cool. Are you gonna want help with breakfast? I wouldn’t mind. It’s kinda fun, to be honest.”

“That would be lovely, Karter.” The golden alien took the plates from my hands. “You should get off to bed now. Have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too.”

 _Tomorrow,_ I told myself. _Tomorrow, you start making yourself useful._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch  
> tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch


	27. Sleepless Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karter can't sleep and finds someone else having troubles.

I tossed and turned that night, unable to get comfortable. The bed felt too big and the room was too quiet. It felt nothing like home, and I hated it. But at the same time, I’m not sure I could have taken it even resembling home, knowing that it would hurt too much to think about the family I had left behind, about how I had no idea what had happened to them.

Staring at my ceiling, I couldn’t help but think about the plastic glow in the dark stars Knox and I had spent the afternoon carefully arranging them on the ceiling of our shared bedroom. They had been shaped into our favorite constellations, spaced out in the rough area where they would appear in the night sky. Of course, not all of them would be in the same sky together, but Knox had assured me that it didn’t matter, that as long as we appreciated the stars being there, it was fine to move them around a little.

I wonder if they were still there, or if the house I had grown up in was gone forever, another precious thing stolen away.

With a sigh, I rolled out of the bed. A short walk might calm my thoughts down a little. I made my way upstairs, intending to go to the kitchen to make that tea-like drink Milo had shown me how to make earlier. As I passed, Zion’s room, I heard something like a muffled sob.

Pausing, I strained my ears, wondering if I heard correctly.

Sure enough, just barely audible, a gasping sob, like someone was trying to keep it quiet. I hovered outside the door for a moment, unsure if I should go in or just ignore it. A louder cry decided for me. Knocking lightly on the door, I said, “Zion? You okay?”

The only answer was another sob and what sounded like rustling sheets like he was struggling around in them. _Was someone in there? Was Zion being attacked?_

I hit the button to open the door, glad it wasn’t locked from the outside. The low lights were on, giving me just enough to see Zion on his bed, the blankets tangled around him as he struggled against them, making the situation worse. His head turned towards me as I stared at him, expression twisted up into something akin to pure fear and pain.

“Zion!” I shouted, rushing over to wake him. “Zion, dude, it’s okay. It’s just a dream. Zion, wake up.” I shook him, trying to pull him out of sleep as fast I could without freaking him out.

Suddenly, his eyes popped open and shot back away from me, hands freeing themselves to fly towards me. I stumbled back, raising my hands in a calming manner. “Zion, captain, buddy, dude, man. It’s okay. It’s just me. Just Karter.”

His chest rose and fell quickly as he panted, gaze darting around the room like he was trying to remember where he was. Little by little he started to relax, his breathing returning to normal. With a quiet groan, he hid his face in his hands. “Fuck.”

“You good now?” I asked, cautiously getting to my feet.

He nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. Must’ve freaked you out…” Zion trailed off, rubbing his temples with his fingers. “You—you can go now.”

“Nah, dude. You still seemed pretty fucked. I mean, I can leave if you really want, but if you want to talk it out, I am down for that too.” I paused, an idea occurring to me. “I was actually gonna make some of this space tea stuff, that’s pretty good. I can go make us some and come back and we could talk? Or we could talk over there? Or we could not talk? I mean, whatever you think is best for you, dude. I just want you to be okay.”

An almost smile made the corners of his lips twitch upwards. “That’d be really nice actually.”

“Cool cool. Uh, which one? I said, like five.”

He stood up from the bed and I ignored how shaky his legs seemed at first. “Let’s got to the kitchen.”

“Alrighty.” I got to work on the space tea as soon as we got there, keeping myself busy as he relaxed at the table. “There’s this sweetener stuff here, if you want it to be, ya know, sweeter.” I set the two steaming cups down along with the space sugar container.

I took a sip of the hot liquid, sighing as it warmed me from the inside. He did the same after pouring what had to be an unhealthy amount of the space sugar into it. “Um, so…”

“I have PTSD.” Zion stared at the cup in front of, not shifting his gaze to look at me or in any way acknowledging my presence. “I was diagnosed a couple days before the invasion. I was part of the Marine Corps, special operations division. We’d been running missions into Australia every few weeks for the past two years, gathering intelligence on the anarchist cells. Most of them went perfectly. Some… did not. The last one….”

He let out a shaky breath. The hand holding the cup was going white with the pressure he was putting on it.

“I—I failed my team, Karter. I failed them. I made the wrong call, and—and they _died._ All of them. They all died because of me.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tragic backstory unlocked lol
> 
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch


	28. Komfort Karter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karter is the best boy

“You—” I started, unsure of what I should say or how I would say it. “That’s terrible. I mean, that they died. Not that you—um. Yeah.” Hastily, I took a drink of my tea, figuring it best to shut up now.

“They were a really great team,” Zion continued. “Some of the best in the entire Corps. We were all really close. I mean, you can’t not be close after two years of repeatedly going into danger. You have to be able to trust that your team has your back, and I couldn’t imagine trusting anyone other than those guys. We were a family. Sometimes it’s still hard to remember that they’re gone.”

I nodded. “It must be really hard. And now all this has happened…”

“I am trying to be strong for the team, really. It’s just that I keep imagining something happen to all of you and you didn’t even sign up for it. You’re not trained, you didn’t even know about this whole thing, and now you’re in the middle of it.”

“You’re not exactly trained for space battles against evil aliens either,” I pointed. “And the ship chose us for a reason. And you already have a plan worked out _for_ getting us trained. I think we’re gonna be okay, Zion. We’re trusting you as our captain, so please trust us as your crew.”

The older human considered my words before managing a weak smile. “An ancient magical ship can’t be wrong, right?”

“Exactly.” I took the last drink of my space tea. “So, uh, are you… better…now?”

Zion nodded slowly. “It helped a lot actually, talking to you. Thanks. And the tea is good too.” He tipped his glass back, getting the last of it down. “You should, um, probably get back to sleep. I didn’t mean to keep you up.”

I smiled, taking the glasses over to the sink to wash them out. “It’s cool. I was up anyways. And I’m always here to talk to if you need someone.”

“Thanks.” He slowly got to his feet. “You’re a really good guy, Karter. You care about everyone, even if you just met them. Even Charlie and I know that can’t be easy.”

The mention of his name sent me straight back to the reason I couldn’t sleep in the first place, making me tense up all over again. Shit. “Yeah, it’s definitely not easy,” I said, laughing awkwardly. A wide yawn cut me off. “Right. Sleep. Sleep is important.”

Zion chuckled, shaking his head. “C’mon, kid.”

We walked down the hallway together in a comfortable silence. Zion paused at his door as I continued my way to the stairs. “Hey, Karter?” I turned back to look at him, curious. He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. “Would you mind—I mean, if it didn’t bother you—you can say no if you want…”

“Do you want me to stay?” I asked. Inwardly, I cooed at the site, being reminded of my young cousins when they would come to me after having a nightmare.

He nodded, a light blush coloring his cheeks. “It’d help a lot.”

“Okay.”

“Really?”

I shrugged, walking back over to him. “Yeah, it’s no big deal. We can’t have our captain not being able to sleep.”

The tension drained from Zion’s shoulders as he headed into his room. “You don’t have to stay too long. Just until I fall asleep. I should be fine after that.”

“Cool cool.” I hovered nearby as he slid back into his bed, reorganizing the messy bedding. “Uh, do you want me to just sit somewhere or actually, ya know?”

“You can get in. If you want.” Zion scooted closer to the wall, leaving me plenty of space. “I had to share tight quarters with people in the Corps, I’m kinda used to it, but if you’re not comfortable…”

“Nah, it’s cool. You have the Corps, I have cousins. Little ones.” I slid under the covers next to him, staying close to the edge so there was a decent distance between the two of us. “Sometimes it felt like one of them had a nightmare every night, so I’d constantly be woken up by something crawling into my bed. Which is never a nice way to wake up.” Zion hummed softly. “Sorry, do you want me to shut up?”

“No. Keep talking.” He slurred the words sleepily as if he was already drifting off. “Silence isn’t good.”

“Yeah, I know that feeling. Um, where was I? Right, my cousins. I have twelve in total, but there were only two living with us all the time. A brother and sister. They were the cutest little things I’ve ever met. Knox always acted like they were brats, but he was jealous because they liked me better…”

I kept up the commentary for a while, even after Zion’s breathing had evened out. Eventually, I found myself starting to drift off. _I should go back to my room,_ I thought to myself as I snuggled deeper into the covers.

The next thing I knew the alarms were blaring overhead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm behind word countwise by about a thousand rn and I only have three days left (counting today bc i haven't started writing yet and I am s t r e s s e d
> 
> Instagram @jacksonofabitch  
> Tumblr @jacksonofab1tch


	29. Charlie is Difficult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's too early for the Thearns to be doing this shit

Zion was alert before I even had the chance to really wake up. Unfortunately, that alertness didn’t include realizing I was still there and he ended up pushing me out of the bed and onto the cold floor.

“Ow,” I groaned, wiggling out of the cocoon of blankets. “Thanks, Zion.”

“Didn’t realize you were still here.” He offered me a hand up and we rushed out the door to the control room. Izar and Milo were both there waiting for us. A moment later, Charlie rushed in, Emic half a moment behind him. “What’s going on?”

“We just received a distress call from a nearby planet,” Izar said, pressing a button to show said planet on the large screen. “The rebel ships are preparing to respond as we speak, but they likely won’t be able to make it in time to save the entire planet. The DayBreak could.”

Zion nodded. “So that’s what we’re going to do.”

“What? No team vote?” Charlie asked, grumpy from getting woken up so abruptly. His hair was sticking up wildly on one side again.

I raised an eyebrow at him, crossing my arms. “You going to vote that we don’t go and save people?” I asked.

He shot me a glare before heading towards his station. “Get me the damn course, you pink bastard.”

“What did I do?” Emic asked, exasperated.

 _None of them are morning people, huh?_ I noted, feeling perfectly chipper now that I was awake. I made my way to my station next to Charlie’s, keeping an eye on the rest of the crew. The tension from yesterday’s debacle didn’t seem to be lingering, but that may have been because they were too tired to remember it. _Maybe another victory will make Charlie realize we all make a good team and start acting like the decent human being that I’m sure he could be._

The DayBreak took off in a rush, shaking as she did. “Everything all right, Charlie?” I asked, glancing over at him.

“Everything’s fucking fine,” he spat back. His grip on the controls was tight though, and his movements jerky as he set off on the course Emic had helpfully provided. “Fuckin’ ship’s screwy. Oi, Goldilocks. Did you fuck with the ship or something?”

“I believe this issue has more to do with your connection to the ship and the team than it does with the ship’s engineering,” Izar said.

“The fuck does that mean?”

“I think he’s saying you’re a jerk and you should apologize for yesterday,” Emic deadpanned. “I’d suggest doing it soon because we’ll be approaching the planet in sixty seconds and I’d rather be on a fully functioning ship.”

“Why the fuck should I have to apologize?” He shouted, turning to glare back at everyone. “I didn’t ask to be put in this fuckin’ situation and I don’t have to fuckin’ like it! I never wanted to be a part of this stupid team in the fuckin’ first place.”

The ship gave another worrying shudder, starting to drift off course from the lack of attention from Charlie.

“None of us wanted to be here,” Zion answered calmly. “We didn’t ask for this any more than you did. We’re just trying to make the best of it right now and that means working together.”

“We’re going through the exact same thing as you,” I added, hoping to get him to turn around and fly the ship again. “We need to be here for each other and we’re here for you.”

It worked in a way: he turned around, but piloting was the last thing on his mind. “You have no fuckin’ idea what I’m going through.”

“I know some of us are going through so pretty bad stuff even without being about to fight aliens that want to take over the universe.” My mind flashed back to last night, the look on Zion’s face when he was still caught in that horrific dream. “But all you’re doing right now is making the lives of millions of others just a miserable as you, or maybe even a little worse.” I straightened my shoulders, trying to be a little more intimidating. “You can help keep people from going through what you are now, or you can sit there and stew in your greedy misery and not give a shit.”

“We’re about to enter attack range,” Emic announced. “There’s a lot more this time. Karter, get ready! We’re going to the miss planet entirely if you don’t straighten up.” Annoyance entered Emic’s voice as he directed the words at Charlie, though careful not to say his name.

“Fucking hell,” Charlie growled. His hands found the controls again, steadily veering the ship back on course and into the middle of the Thearn ships. “I fucking hate all of you.”

I switched on the weapons array and immediately began firing as much as I could, as fast as I could. “We hate you too, buddy.”

“For the record, I’m not doing this for you guys. Or for them. I’m doing it because I don’t want to die.”

“Whatever makes you do your job.”

“Fucking stop that.”

I didn’t respond, doing just as he asked.

“Fucker,” he muttered.

“That’s uncalled for.”

“Fucking shut up.”

“I did! And you called me names!”

“Boys,” Zion warned. “Please, try and focus on the battle outside the ship until it’s over.”

Not a second later, the ship was hit hard by a blast from one of the Thearn ships.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I slept in for two and half hours and missed two of my classes (neither of which I had any skips left in ;-; )
> 
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch


	30. Charlie Calms his Tits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What even are these chapter titles anymore?

“Dammit,” Charlie muttered, veering off to the side. It hardly mattered though as we were already completely surrounded. “Oh, fucker.”

“Karter, clear us a path,” Zion ordered. “We need to get out of here now.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, already firing at the nearest ship.

Distantly, I heard Emic pipe up, saying something about an asteroid belt, but all my focus was on destroying as many ships as I could. The ship jerked suddenly as Charlie moved it to dodge another large blast from a ship. Which was great. Except that the shot I just fired was off now, and grazed the ship that it should have hit directly.

“Will you fuckin’ hit something?” he growled. “I’m doing all the work here.”

I sent a glare in his direction as I sent a missile directly into the main engine of a nearby ship. “Maybe if you weren’t so shit at piloting I wouldn’t have missed.” He continued muttering venomously under his breath, but I ignored him, trying to keep us alive.

He continued to move the ship around with sudden movements at the most random times, making it incredibly difficult to ensure I could hit what I was aiming. “Could you stop doing that?” I snapped after what must’ve been the twelfth time.

“I’m trying to keep us alive,” he shouted back. “Fuckin’ get used to it.”

“Then warn me when you’re about to move the ship! You’re making this difficult.”

“It’s not my fault you’re incompetent.”

“I am _not_ incompetent.”

“Boys!” Zion shouted, making the both of us flinch. “Charlie, give a warning when you’re going to change direction suddenly. The rebels should be here soon. If things get too hairy, there’s an asteroid field on the other side of the planet where we could hide for a bit. If we can get out of this mess without killing each other first.”

Charlie sneered. “We’re not going to run and hide like a bunch of sissies,” he growled.

“Then I would suggest working together so we don’t have to. We did it yesterday, so it shouldn’t be this hard.” Zion sighed. “At least pretend you can stand each other until the rebels get here.”

I let out a deep breath, turning all attention back to fighting. _Just until the rebels arrive,_ I repeated to myself.

“Turning,” Charlie said as he turned. The plasma blast still went off course. “I’m doing what you said, and you still missed.”

“Warn me _before_ doing it maybe,” I responded, struggling to keep my voice neutral. _Please hurry._

The control room was oddly silent for several long moments, until finally Charlie again said, “Turning left.”

This time I managed to adjust to the sudden change of direction and made a direct hit to the ship, effectively putting it out of commission. I smirked, the confidence in my abilities restored again. Beside me, Charlie scoffed again. “Going down.”

The fight grew more intense as more and more ships came in from seemingly out of nowhere. Charlie could barely keep up with changing the directions, let alone warn me about them in time, not that it mattered as I could fire in any direction hit something now. “Oi, where're those fuckin’ rebels?”

“Another fleet intercepted them,” Emic said, voice tinged with panic. “They’re calling for more backup, but we’re on our own.”

“Great.”

“Should we go to the asteroid field then?” I suggested. As hard as I tried to get rid of them, the ships continued to multiply, and it seemed impossible we would win if we continued on like this. “At least to get free of this mess.” Another blast shook the ship as I said it.

Zion nodded although I couldn’t see it. “Charlie, get us there. It should keep some of the bigger ships off our backs.”

“Fine. Emic,” he started to say.

“Already there,” the pink alien said. A blip popped up on the screen, showing where the asteroid field was. “Try not to get us killed before we get there.”

Charlie rolled his eyes before gunning it in that direction, swerving recklessly around the ships in front of us. It was like the tunnels back on Lacarea all over again, except now people were trying to shoot us. I shot back, trying to keep ships out of the way as best I could. Finally, we broke through the ring of ships that had been slowly tightening around us.

There was a distance of open space between us and the asteroid field and I took the opportunity to fire as much as I could back at the Thearn ships, hardly bothering to aim as they were far too packed together. From outside the circle, there seemed to be even more of them. Far more than yesterday.

“Guys, what if this was a trap to lure us out?” I wondered out loud.

Zion hummed, thinking it over. “They did have another fleet waiting to stop the rebels, but let us continue on our way to the planet.”

“And they attacked a planet that would be an easy distance for us, but not for the rebels,” Emic added on.

“So, we flew straight into their trap,” Charlie remarked. “Great. Got any clever ideas for getting out of it?”

“I suspect,” Izar said, coming back into the control room, which I hadn’t even noticed him leave, “you’ll simply have to fight your way out.”

“We could leave,” Charlie responded. “Just make a lightspeed jump or whatever.”

“They would take over the planet though,” Zion said. “They may have been using it to draw us out, but they would probably take it over and use it as a base to attack Chetelene again. We’re not abandoning those people.”

“Um,” Emic said, “I have an idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the last day of NaNoWriMo!! Very excited to say I am very near to the word count goal, but there's a whole lot more left to come! From now on I will posting a chapter every Tuesday and Saturday until I finish the novel (hopefully before next November ha) There's some pretty great stuff coming up so please continue reading (and spread the word)
> 
> Please feel free to come talk to me!  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch


	31. Into the Field

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emic has a pretty good plan.

We wove in and out of the asteroids, hovering near the edge of the belt as we waited for the smaller, faster ships to catch up to us. The plan was simple: we lured some of the ships into the field where we would likely have more of an advantage and pick them off a couple at a time until either the Thearns retreated, the rebels arrived, or all the ships were gone.

“Of course, it all hinged on if the Thearns take the bait or not,” Emic said. “They might realize what we’re trying to do and come up with something to counteract it.”

“I doubt they’re that clever,” Izar said. “Thearns are more shadows of actual living beings. They need orders to survive. I doubt the person commanding them is on board any of the ships and likely won’t realize it is a trap from where ever they are.”

“It’d be cool if we had some way to disrupt their signal,” I said. “That way even if the command person does figure it out and is here, all the other ships would have no idea what’s going on and charge in anyway.”

Izar blinked down at me in surprise. “That… that is not a half bad idea. We should work on creating such a thing as soon as possible.”

“I can take scans of the frequencies they’re using now so we know for later on,” Emic said. “Since I don’t really have anything to do during a fight anyways.”

I turned back to the computer console, noting that the ships were closing in the distance quickly. “Remember to warn me if you’re gonna turn suddenly,” I said.

“I fuckin’ will,” Charlie snapped. “Don’t fuckin’ miss or I’ll kill you later.”

“I won’t.” _Because this computer is pretty great at aiming and I’m literally just pressing buttons,_ I thought before I could stop myself.

We shot deeper into the asteroid field as soon as the ships got closer, darting in and out of the giant rocks until we eventually hid behind one. Two of the ships flew past us and, in an instant, were destroyed. The other four Thearn ships that had entered the field immediately narrowed in on us, but we were already moving away from the area, taking out another ship as we did so. “This is going pretty okay,” Charlie said, surprise very evident in his voice. “Well done, Pinky.”

“Glad I have your approval,” was Emic’s flat reply.

Charlie opened his mouth to respond but closed it again in favor of concentrating on piloting them through the asteroid field. The three remaining ships sped after us, firing uselessly at the asteroids as Charlie wasn’t about to let them get a clear shot in. Unfortunately, this meant that I wasn’t able to shoot them either.

“There are another two ships entering the field,” Emic said.

“Karter, we need to get rid of these before they reach us,” Zion ordered.

I gritted my teeth, trying to get the computer to lock onto any of the ships, but it wasn’t going to happen. We were turning to fast. “Charlie, turn the ship around.”

“And get us killed? Fantastic idea.”

“So, we can kill _them,”_ I said with an eye roll. “That or hide somewhere. There’s no way I’m going to be able to get a clear shot at them like this.”

“Fine.” Charlie jerked the ship hard to the right, narrowly flying along the surface of a large asteroid. Once the Thearn ships were out of sight, he flipped the ship around with a move that was way too cool for someone who had started piloting the ship yesterday. A moment later, the Thearn ships popped up around the asteroid, guns blazing but unable to stop their own destruction.

“Good job guys,” Zion said. “Emic, what is the rest of the Thearn fleet doing?”

“There’s a few more ships heading towards our position, but they’re having trouble getting through the asteroids.” Emic sent their locations to our screens. “The other ships seem to be hanging back. I can’t tell what they’re doing. They might be waiting to see if they can draw us out.”

“Any news from the rebels?”

“Not yet, but they probably still have their hands full.”

We came upon another Thearn ship and shot it down quickly, moving onto the next target. This one barely managed to avoid the plasma blast, though it did take damage. As I got ready to fire again, another ship burst from out of seemingly nowhere, bearing down on us with heavy fire. Charlie yanked the ship around, giving me the perfect angle to shoot the ship down. “Nice!”

The damaged ship had limped off in the direction of the rest of the fleet and Charlie eagerly gave chase, barely noticing how close to the edge we were getting. By the time I managed to shoot it, we were back into open space.

The larger ships were easy to see now, hovering in space in front of us. But they weren’t turned towards us. They were circling the planet once more. As we watched, the Thearns fired onto the surface, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

“Oh, no.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so weird not posting these chapters every day. 
> 
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch


	32. Finally Some Teamwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally get their shit together

I wasn’t entirely sure who said it. It easily could have been me, but we were all thinking it.

We were frozen there, for few moments, staring. Then Charlie was kicking the ship into gear and the ships were getting bigger and bigger. My hands moved on their own as they began firing off barrage after barrage, taking down first one ship, then two, four, five six, ten. Emic kept us informed of which ships were closest, which ones were getting ready to fire, which ones were back to attacking the planet. All the while Zion calmly gave out orders, keeping us focused and organized in our attack

Finally, it seemed they were retreating. I half expected the rebels to be arriving, driving them off like they had the day before, but there was just a ridiculous amount of debris and broken ships floating around the planet.

“God damn bastards never showed up,” Charlie said, eloquent as ever.

Zion turned to Emic to ask where they were, but the pink alien was already on it. “They’re still fighting that flee that intercepted them. They’re taking heavy losses.”

“Charlie, get us there as quick as you can,” came Zion’s order.

“Ugh, why do we have to go to _their_ rescue,” the dark haired teen groaned, already directing the ship towards the coordinates Emic has sent him. “They don’t even like us.”

“Imagine that,” Emic said. I snorted before hastily trying to cover it up with a cough. “We’re doing this because they need our help. Not because they like us.”

Izar hummed in agreement. “Besides, perhaps after saving them twice, they may grow to trust us more.” He paused. “Although, I can easily understand why they would not like us,” he added icily.

“Fuck off,” was Charlie’s reply.

The battle was raging hard when we arrived, and we immediately dove in, guns blazing. It felt easier than the one we’d just fought. Perhaps it was because there were more ships fighting _with_ us rather than against us. Or we were still high off the adrenaline. Either way, we were so in sync with each other, something hardly had to be said out loud before it was being done.

It felt like we had only just arrived when the battle was won.

“Zion, we’re getting a message from one of the rebel ships,” Emic said.

Zion glanced back at Izar, having some secret exchange in that half second of eye contact. “Let’s hear it, then,” he said.

A gruff voice came through the speaker. “Seems you saved us again, DayBreak. I don’t quite ‘ppreciate that, but some of the others seem to think you might be worth taking on. Personally, I’d rather put you under the care of Axel, but he’s got his own problem crew, so I’m letting Dianth take ya. She’ll be expecting you. Good luck. Hope you don’t die.” The message ended with a crackle, but not before we could hear some disgruntled grumbling.

“There’s some coordinates sent as well. They’re for a system quite aways away from here. It seems to be pretty active on the Thearn side of things.”

“Well, at least we’ll be getting some action,” I said optimistically.

Zion nodded, considering. “It seems our best option at the moment. Anyone have a dispute?”

“I don’t like doing what that old fart tells us to do,” Charlie offered.

I looked at him with wide eyes. “Was that a joke? Are you suddenly developing a sense of humor?” I asked, shocked at this new strange aspect. First aliens, and now this?

“Shut the fuck up. I will end you.”

“Emic, start calibrating a lightspeed jump to those coordinates.” The captain sighed, shaking his head at us.

“Ah, could I make a suggestion?” Izar said, stepping forward. We all looked at him expectantly. “Well, no doubt once arriving at this rebel post we will be expected to fight many battles immediately, but I don’t believe we are quite ready for that.” He paused, waiting for someone to protest. Charlie glared but kept his mouth shut for once. “I think it would be better if we spent time traveling the long way and give ourselves some time to truly form a proper fighting team.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Charlie, hush. It doesn’t sound like too bad an idea. Does the ship have an autopilot? How long would it take to get their anyway?”

Emic pushed a few more buttons. “About a week if we travel at top speed with no stops. And it does. I still need to calibrate it like a lightspeed jump though, so that’s fun.” His voice hinted that it was anything _but_ fun.

Charlie got up from his seat. “Well, while you do that, I’m going to get some breakfast.”

As he started to walk across the room to the door, Milo burst in. “I have finished breakfast, young crew members,” he announced. “When ready, please come to the dining area. I have prepared an extra special treat in light of your victory.”

“But we just won,” Charlie said, confusion written all over his face. “How could you prepare it so fast?”

Milo shrugged. “I made it while you were still fighting, so had you lost it would have been a consolatory treat. But I had every belief in you that you would win.” He beamed at all of us. “At the very least, I figured you’d all enjoy a meal after such a harsh awakening.

“Thanks, Milo,” I said, getting up from my station as well. Charlie brushed past him without another word.

Emic pressed a button with a happy squeak and the ship’s engines hummed as we began moving through space with purpose again. “Finished the calibrations. What did you say, Milo?”

“There’s a treat waiting for you all in the dining room when you are ready,” he repeated. “Along with a wonderful and healthy breakfast.”

“That sounds great.” Emic hopped off his chair, happily heading to the door. I was a step behind him, leaving Zion and the two metallic aliens in the control room. We had barely stepped out into the hallways when we heard Charlie shout.

“What the actual fuck is this!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How long can these good times go though?
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	33. Milo's Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The problem with Lacarean cuisine

After a glance in each other’s direction, we rushed down the corridor to the kitchen. Charlie was standing at the counter, poking at something in a very large bowl with a long metal stick. He looked up at us when we came in. “This shit is disgusting,” he informed us.

Curious, I walked over to see what was inside. Slugs. Giant, green, swollen, slugs covered in some sort of weird slime. I thought they were dead at first, but one flinched away as Charlie nudged it with the stick. “Oh, my god.”

“This is not Milo’s surprise,” Charlie said. “This can’t be it. I won’t accept this.”

“It, um, oh, gosh, I don’t know what this is.” I looked over at Emic who was still back by the door, eyeing the bowl with suspicion. “Emic, come here. You know more about alien stuff than we do.”

“I highly suspect it’s Glarm worms and I’d much rather stay over here, thanks.”

“Glarm worms,” Charlie repeated, nudging at one of the weird things again. “They look gross. Why the fuck are you so scared of ‘em? They’re not exactly moving around all that quick.” As he spoke, one flopped up against the side of the bowl, lazily reaching up towards the rim before sliding back down. “Nasty.”

“Because they’re awful.” Emic had edged his way over to the table now and was loading up a plate of much more normal looking (for being on an alien spaceship) food, but he kept his eyes glued to the bowl. “You’d be a little more cautious if you once fell into a bit of them and had those disgusting, slippery things sliding all over you.” He shuddered. “I still have nightmares.”

“What a great gift Milo has given us.”

I couldn’t help but agree with Charlie’s sarcasm. “What are we going to do with them? Milo will be hurt if we don’t, um… eat? Them?” The thought was repulsive just on its own. “Ugh.”

“I’m gonna eat downstairs,” Emic announced, a plate full and already heading towards the door. “You have fun figuring that out.”

He left, leaving me and Charlie alone in the room. Our eyes met for a moment. The metal stick clattered to the floor as we both rushed to fill a plate of food as well. We had both mostly filled our plates when Milo came in along with Zion and Izar. We froze, staring at them.

“What’s up guys?” Zion asked. His bemused gaze drifted over us as we stood awkwardly at the table, halfway between scooping some sort of food onto our plates. “Not sitting down?”

“Um,” I said, trying to think of some excuse for our strange behavior. “We’re still too wired after the battle to sit still?” Charlie nodded in agreement, which was surprising. Friends made in the face of danger, I guess.

Milo walked over to the counter where the bowl of slugs was. “I hope you haven’t missed these guys,” he said. “I prepared them with a special sauce recipe passed down from through my family for many generations.”

“Where’s Emic?” Izar asked as he settled down into a seat. “I thought he came in here with you two?”

Charlie avoided eye contact with the silver being, slowly sinking into his seat like he was accepting a death sentence. “He, uh, wasn’t feeling well,” I said slowly. Nodding, I added, “I was actually going to take this down to him and see if it’ll help him feel better.”

“He didn’t seem sick earlier,” Zion noted, concerned. “I hope it isn’t serious.”

“He said it might be because of the stress of the last few days and then getting woken up like we did.” I smiled as innocently as I could, slowly edging backward toward the door. “I’m sure a relaxing meal and a bit of sleep will help. I’ll go check on him now.” I turned in a hurry, trying to get out before someone called me back.

I was almost fast enough.

“Wait,” Milo said. “Perhaps one of the Glarm Worms will get him back on his feet. They’re quite tasty. I can never eat them without smiling.”

Charlie, having been glaring at me with the promise of death ever since I came up with the ‘Emic is sick’ excuse, smirked, figuring I was caught now. I glanced down at my plate of actually tasty looking food, thinking of slapping a large slug on top of it. _Hell no._

“Uh, actually the plate I have is already pretty full, and I don’t want to pressure him into eating a lot. I’ll see if he’s up for one in a bit and come back. Yeah.” With a final nod, I slipped out of the room, breathing a sigh of relief when the door shut behind me.

I made my way down to Emic’s room, knocking lightly before hearing his call to enter. “Got away?” he asked with a smile when I came in.

“Barely. I had to say that you weren’t feeling well from all the stress and that I was bringing you food.” I sat down on the floor across from him. “Milo’s really proud of those worm things.”

“They’re considered quite the delicacy on Lacarea, so I wouldn’t be surprised. Pity Lacareans don’t realize that no one ever wants to eat them.” I laughed. “They had this habit of serving them at every diplomatic function and giving heaps of them to other planets as a gift. Apparently, it kind of became a running joke among the alliance before everything fell. It still is, honestly.”

I laughed again. “That’s terrible. Why didn’t anyone tell them?”

“You going to tell Milo you don’t want to eat them?”

“...No,” I said after a pause.

“Exactly.” Emic took a bit of food. “Lacareans are too sweet and nice. It’s impossible to discourage them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot to post this lol. too busy with my college life.... of getting up late and watching movies.... yeah....
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	34. Training Sucks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karter begins to realize just how far behind the others he really is.

“Come on, Karter! Keep up! You’re dropping behind in points!” Milo cheered from the sidelines. We were back in the training room again, the floor a complex mix of different levels once more. Bright balls of light appeared at random around the room, and the goal was to catch as many as we could, as fast as we could. It was like a game, with points and everything, but with the added bonus of learning to use the suit in an environment with more pressure to do well.

Given my difficulties to perform well without pressure, it was needless to say that this exercise wasn’t going well for me at all.

Milo was doing his best to keep me encouraged, but with my score less than half of what Emic’s was, with Zion and Charlie even higher above that, it was getting a little difficult. I was panting hard from having to run and jump so much. I hadn’t been a lazy kid before this, but I couldn’t remember any point in my life where I had to do this much activity in a short amount of time. It was exhausting, and I didn’t even have a way to figure out how much longer I had left.

A buzzer went off and the room sorted itself back to normal. Our scores were displayed in very large type on the wall for us to look at. Charlie was in first place, which was no surprise considering how utterly competitive he got. There was a decent gap between him and Zion in second. Emic wasn’t too far behind Zion, and then there me with a despicably low score.

_Useless idiot._

“Well, I think that you’re getting the hang of the suits, so I believe it is time to begin working on actual combat skills. For now, we’ll be doing hand to hand, but later on, you’ll be allowed to choose a weapon of your choice from the armory and begin training with that. Of course, we will also have a short course on using the average blaster, as those are the standard in most fights and will most often be around if you happen to find yourself short a weapon.”

He nodded to Zion, who stepped forward to face us. “Today, we’ll be beginning with the basics, how to punch, dodge, and block. Charlie, could you come here?”

“Want me to punch you?” the teen asked, strolling forward. “I already know how to fight. Don’t need this bull.”

“Then this will be a delightful refresher for you,” Zion said, smiling pleasantly. “Come at me if you’re so confident in your fighting skills.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow at him, waiting to see if Zion would change his mind. He didn’t. “Alright.” He rolled his shoulders, raising up his clenched fists. “Get ready.” In a flash, he darted forward, swinging a fist directly at Zion’s face.

Zion easily stepped out of the way, delivering a short punch to his stomach as Charlie’s momentum continued to carry him forward. The raven-haired human fell to his knees, hunched over as he gasped for breath. “While there are many different ways of fighting, I believe that for now it may be best for all of us to learn my way.”

“Fuck off,” Charlie rasped out. “Bastard.”

The older man shook his head. “Take a moment to collect yourself and come back. Karter, Emic, you’ll be a sparring pair for today. I’m going to demonstrate how to punch and block it, and have you practice it for a bit.”

The lesson passed in a blur of angry shouting, important defensive positions, and many, many bruises. When we broke for lunch, I limped down to my bedroom and headed into the shower. The warm water was soothing on my already sore muscles and it was almost heartbreaking to step out again.

When I walked back out into my room, I found Emic waiting for me with two plates of food, already digging into one. “The worms are still there,” he said in explanation. “Snuck out before they even noticed we weren’t there.”

“Nice.” I flopped down on to the floor, groaning when pain flared up along my bruised arms and legs. “Training is harder than I thought.”

“Well, we have to win a war. It’s not going to be easy.”

“I know, but,” I sighed, rolling over to look at him, “I’m so far behind you guys already. We’re supposed to be these chosen heroes of the universe, but I can barely do the little things I can, and you guys make it look so easy. I feel like I wasn’t really meant to be a part of this.”

“Of course, you are!” Emic protested. “The ship chose you. And so what if you’re not good at certain things? You’ve done a ton of things I could never have done already. I mean, you went and talked to Charlie after he punched you and got him to go along with being a part of the team. You helped smooth things out with him the morning too. You helped make dinner last night as well.”

He was grasping at straws now and I shook my head, telling him to stop. “Guess I’m the Charlie-wrangler of the team,” I said with a laugh. We needed to get off the subject.

“You’re more than that,” Emic said, reaching out to grab my hand. Our eyes locked gazes, his swimming with sincerity. “You’re going to get the hang of this, Karter. I know you will. I believe in you. Please believe in yourself too.”

“I will. Don’t worry about me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finals this week, pray for me guys ;-; I'm hoping to start writing this again (i took a short break bc my brain was dead) over winter break, but there's plenty that I won't run out for a couple months yet
> 
> As always pls feel free to come talk to me!  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	35. Weapons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh God they're finally armed. This is going to end well.

“Keep in mind that this isn’t a one time only choice,” Izar said as the team walked into the armory. “If you feel that a weapon isn’t going to work out for you, then you should definitely change it sooner rather than later.”

The walls were lined with a wide variety of blasters, from heavy-duty machine gun looking ones to lighter pistols to a deadly looking sniper rifle. Zion and Charlie gravitated towards them automatically. I stayed back near Emic, gazing at the selection and seeing if anything immediately called out to me.

A gun seemed a good choice, long distance and fairly simple overall. We were going to learn how to shoot one anyway, so I might as well start practicing now. But as I watched Zion and Charlie pick up several, trying out how they felt in their hands, it seemed wrong to use one. _Mom always hated guns,_ I remembered, thinking back to all the times she’d curse at politicians on screen for not restricting gun use. She hated the thought of even having one _near_ the house.

“What do you like to use?” I asked Emic.

He shrugged, ever so helpful. “I’m not really a fighter, to be honest. I prefer using traps and cleverness to win, not violence.”

I rubbed my bruised arms. “For such a peaceful person, you have an awfully hard punch.”

Moving further down, there were other sorts of weapons like knives, staffs, swords. Even a funky looking bow. A short cylinder on one of the shelves caught my attention and I picked it up. It was just longer than my hand and fit perfectly in my grip. “Hey, Izar, what’s this?” I asked, holding it up.

“It’s a Lacarean Shifting Spear. It’s an incredibly diverse weapon,” he said, coming closer to observe it. “It’s sensitive to nerve impulses and allows the carrier to control when it expands as well as other features, such as electricity and sharpness.” He looked at it fondly before setting it back on the shelf. “Only a few ever learned to effectively use it, as it is very finicky. I’m surprised one is even onboard the ship.”

“Oh. Cool.” I looked at the little tube, wondering how hard it really would be master it. _You have other things to work on,_ I reminded myself. I kept up my search, eventually picking up a medium-sized blaster. Emic ended up picking some strange wire thing that looked somewhat like a yo-yo but more complicated. I made a note to ask him more about it later.

“All of you are ready?” Izar asked, observing the four of us. “Then if you’ll head back to the training room, Milo is waiting for you.”

He was waiting for us indeed, with a very large, very intimidating robot standing behind him. “Greetings, heroes. Ready for some real combat training?” He laughed loudly. “Of course not. This guy here is set to the most basic setting, so he should be easy enough for you to take out, between the four of you. Good luck to you all.”

Milo made his way to the alcove of safety and as soon as he was inside, the robot activated, charging towards Zion. We split up immediately, diving away from the robot’s path. Zion rolled to the side, coming up on one knee and firing at the robot’s head. It deflected the shots with a shield before charging again.

A blast from behind distracted it as Charlie aimed one of his small laser pistols at the back of its head. Another pistol was tucked into his belt, along with a short knife. _Someone’s compensating,_ I thought to myself.

The next thing I knew, I was being tackled to the ground by Charlie. The robot loomed above us, having just taken a deadly swipe at my head while I’d been distracted. The two of us stared up at it. Charlie began to raise a gun as it raised its fist to smash down on us.

As the robot’s arm began to swing downwards, something small wrapped around the wrist, holding it into place. The robot’s head swiveled around, locking onto Emic behind him. Charlie scrambled to his feet, backing away several steps before opening fire, aiming each one at the robot’s neck, exactly where the armor split to allow for movement.

 _Oh, that’s clever. Good shot, too,_ I thought stupidly, still laying on the ground in a daze. I came to my senses when the fist slammed into the ground next to me, having broken free of Emic’s snare. Panicking, I got to my feet and ran, belatedly realizing I had dropped my gun and was now weaponless. The robot gave chase, running faster than I could dream of.

Its hand grabbed the back of my armor, yanking me back and off my feet. A scream welled up in my throat, but couldn’t make it all the way to my mouth before Zion was firing a stream of laser blasts into the robot’s chest.

Finally, it fell, chest plate filled with melted holes. “Oh, shit,” I whispered to myself, falling on my butt after being dropped.

“Karter!” Emic said, rushing over to me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m great,” I muttered, brushing away his concern. “Don’t worry. It barely grabbed me before Zion took care of it.” I smiled up at our leader. “Thanks, dude.”

“No problem,” Zion answered easily before his smile faded a little. “Next time, try not to get caught like that. I might not be able to get to you as quickly.”

“Next time, try not to be a useless piece of shit,” Charlie said, chucking my gun down on the ground next to me. He glanced at the looks Emic and Zion both gave him. “What? You both know it’s true. He’s the only one that didn’t do anything. If you don’t count, ya know, distracting the robot by being so damn open all the time.”

Zion stepped forward. “Charlie, that’s enough.”

The other human rolled his eyes, stalking away. “Sooner you all realize it, the better. I don’t want to get killed because that dumbass doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“He’s out of line,” Emic started to say, turning back to me, but I waved the excuse aside.

“It’s fine. He kind of has a point. I should have been more alert. I’ll do better next time.” I directed the last sentence toward Zion and he nodded.

“I hope so. Milo, we’re ready for another round.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pls feel free to come talk to me!  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch


	36. Milo's Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karter wants to sleep but surprise visitors appear

_It hurts_ was all I could think of that night when I returned to my room. Everything ached from the constant training that day. We had gone five more rounds with the robot before breaking for dinner and then had a very long discussion about the day’s events, most of which I never wanted to think about again, let alone analyze every tiny detail.

I collapsed onto my bed, debating if another shower was worth the effort. A bath, maybe. A nice long relaxing soak to ease my muscles… That sounded lovely if only we had a bathtub. Maybe I could ask Izar or Milo about it tomorrow morning. I was trying to find the energy to get up and start do _something_ when there was a knock on my door.

“Come in,” I called, thinking it was probably Emic wanting to talk about something. It wasn’t, however, my pink alien friend.

Milo’s usual bright smile turned into something a little more sympathetic when he saw me laying like boneless fish on the bed. “Hello, Karter. Feeling a bit tired?”

“Exhausted.”

“That’s no surprise there, but trust me when I say it is necessary. You’ll be glad for it later on.” He walked over and offered me a tablet, identical to the one he often carried around. “Here you are, my boy. I have created a simple instruction manual on it that will help you access the computer system of the ship. You can also pull up anything from the ship’s archives on it as well. I figured this would be easier for you as you could study and learn it when you have the chance.”

I took it from him, touched at the thought that had gone into it. “Thanks, Milo. I really appreciate this. I really do. I’ll learn as fast as I can.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “There’s no rush, Karter. Please do not further exhaust your mind. You’ll need that clever brain of yours for when we’re fighting the Thearns.” Milo ruffled my hair. “Get some rest now. Tomorrow will be as hard as today.”

The gold alien turned to leave but paused. “Oh, I nearly forgot.” He reached into the inner pocket of his robes, pulling out the cylinder I’d seen earlier in the armory. Tossing it to me, he said, “You seemed to like it quite a bit earlier. It’s not like any of us can use it, so you may as well have it. Perhaps you’ll be the first in a hundred years to be able to turn a Shifting Spear on.”

I sat, contemplating the two gifts after he left for a while before I decided to give in to the need for sleep. Changing out of the armor, I pulled on some loose, comfortable clothes and got into bed. I grabbed the tablet and turned it on, opening to the first page of the manual with only minor difficulty and began reading. As I did, I turned the spear around and around in my hand subconsciously.

The reading wasn’t particularly interesting and before I knew it I was starting to drift off. _Great bedtime story,_ I sleepily thought to myself, switching the tablet and the lights off. I pulled the blankets up over me and started to drift off.

No sooner had I fallen asleep than there was a quiet tap on the door, dragging me back to being fully awake. I groaned something that vaguely sounded like ‘come in.’

Emic stepped into the room, peering at me through the darkness. “Ah, sorry. Do you mind if I, um, talked to you? For a bit?”

I propped myself up on an arm, blinking at him before scooting over to make room for him. “Sure, sure. Get over here.” Emic was slipping under the covers before I even finished speaking. “So, what’s up?”

“I just got a bit lonely. I’m not used to sleeping in a room by myself, and this ship is way different from anywhere else I’ve lived so it kinda freaks me out sometimes,” Emic said, keeping his voice low. “Is it the same for you?”

“Too tired to really think about it right now, but I guess?” I said. Already, my brain was starting to fall back asleep. “Wanna sleep in here for tonight?” I asked as my eyes slid shut against my will.

I didn’t even manage to stay awake to hear his answer before I was off to dreamland. It must have been a yes, because I woke up the next morning with him cuddled against my back, snoring softly. I reached up to rub the sleep from my eyes and find out what time it was, nearly poking my eye out with the inactive spear that I had somehow held through the entire night.

Frowning, I stared at it, looking for any markings on the smooth silver metal the tube was made of. _Certainly, doesn’t look like a spear._ I remembered the interesting fact Milo had said, about how no one had managed to turn one on in a hundred years. _Be really cool if I_ was _the first._

I held it up above me, focusing on making it grow or extend or whatever it did. Nothing happened.

“Oh, come on. Pretty please?” I asked it, wanting just one thing to go right for me.

Like it had heard my desperate plea, the ends show out of it in a snap, extending into a staff that must’ve been just taller than me.


	37. A Success

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karter shows someone that he can actually do something.

“Holy shit!” I shouted, sitting up. Emic jerked awake next to me.

“What’s going on?” he slurred, struggling to open his eyes.

I held up the extended staff proudly. “Dude, look at this. I did it!” As I said it, the spear snapped back to its original state. “Oh, come on.”

“Maybe it’s shy,” Emic mumbled, rolling back over and falling asleep again.

“Maybe,” I said, glumly, looking the silver cylinder. “Still managed to get it to do that though. That’s something.” Emic snored softly in response. Laughing quietly to myself, I slid out of bed and started heading upstairs, the folded staff still in my hand.

Milo was in the training room when I found him, fiddling with something on the computer. Probably creating some crazy hard task for us to do later on in training. He looked up when he heard the door open, smiling at me. “Good morning, Karter. You’re up early for being so worn out last night.”

“Yeah,” I said, “but I couldn’t really get back to sleep. I, um, got the staff thing to open. Or extend I guess? I turned it on.”

His hands froze on the screen as he stared at me with wide eyes. “You did? In such a short amount of time? Show me!” Milo was invading my personal space in an instant, staring at the staff in my hand.

“Well, I only did it once and it turned off like right away, so I don’t know if I can, but…” I trailed off. Holding it out in front of me, I tried to remember what exactly I did when I got it to extend before. “Um, pretty please?” I said weakly, facing heating up from the intense way Milo was watching it.

The spear didn’t do anything.

 _Oh, c’mon. What’s the problem? You just did it,_ I silently berated the shifting spear. “Guess I still need a bit more practice with it. But it did do it before. Emic saw it. Although he was pretty asleep, so he might not remember it…” I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed and feeling like a disappointment, two things I was becoming incredibly familiar with lately.

Milo smiled, patting my shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll get it. You’ve already done more than anyone has with it.” He turned away, heading back to the control alcove. “Would you like to do a bit of early morning training since you’re here? A little target practice, maybe?”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll just go get changed real quick.” I returned to my room and quietly changed into my armor, grabbing the heavy blaster I’d chosen yesterday. I hesitated about what I was going to do about the staff for a moment, before tucking it into a compartment on my belt. Emic was still asleep in my bed when I left, limbs spread out to take up most of the space so even if I wanted to, there was no place for me to sleep.

Izar had joined Milo when I returned, their conversation stopping when I came in. “Good morning,” I chirped to the silver Lacarean. “Something going on?”

“Discussing lesson plans for some general aspects of alien culture that humans should learn before any serious interaction with a large amount of them,” Izar answered. “As well as you apparently activating the Shifting Staff.” The expression on his face and tone of voice blatantly said that he didn’t think that it was possible for a human to be able to do something like that.

Or maybe that _I_ couldn’t do it.

Annoyed that Izar didn’t believe me either way, I pulled out the staff and lifted it up, begging for it to activate just this once to prove him wrong. To my relief and amazement, it did, and I beamed at Izar’s shocked face. “Yeah, I did.”

“How did you do that?”

I shrugged, lowering it and resting one end of the staff rest on the ground. It didn’t shrink immediately this time. “Not sure. It just kinda happens at random, I guess.”

“But surely there must be something specific. Are you holding it a certain way? Do you have to think certain things?”

“I mean, I ask it to extend, but that didn’t work earlier, so I’m not sure if that’s it.” I spun it around in my fingers like a really long baton. “It’s really cool. You said it could do other stuff right? Something about electricity and sharpness? I wonder how that works.”

As I was musing, Izar and Milo exchanged a look. “Perhaps it wouldn’t be unwise to train him a little in using the staff,” Milo suggested.

The staff snapped closed again, making me jump in surprise. “Really?”

“Perhaps it would be best for you to continue with the blaster until you have better control over the staff,” Izar said decisively. “But if you want to use your free time to train with it and Milo is not busy with other tasks, I don’t believe it would be a bad idea to become more accustomed to a different weapon.”

“Sweet.”

Izar gave me an unreadable look before heading towards the door. “I’ll be finishing up that report in the engine room if you have need of me, Milo.”

Once he left, Milo turned to me, smiling wider than I had ever seen him. “That was quite amazing, my boy. Quite the dramatic flair.” He chuckled. “Now, let’s see if you can do it again.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my chapter titles and summaries are getting worse I swear. 
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	38. Charlie Becomes More Badass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie please just be nice for five seconds

I could do it again and did a couple times. The trick really was getting it to _stay_ open. Milo led me through some of the basic forms used in fighting with a staff, but the staff’s random decision to close up would force us to stop and wait until I could get it to activate again, which usually took a few minutes.

“You’ll get it with more practice,” Milo said encouragingly as we headed towards the kitchen to start preparing breakfast. “Continue working with opening and closing it at your will even while we’re not training and I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it.”

“Get the hang of what?” Charlie was sitting at the dining table as we walked in.

“I got that staff thing to work for me. When it wants to that is.”

“Staff thing?”

“You know, that staff thing Izar talked about yesterday when we were choosing our weapons. I picked it up.”

“Don’t remember. When’s the food going to be ready?”

“When you help make it,” I told him heading over to the counter to begin chopping up the alien version of an apple which actually tasted closer to a banana with a strange nutty aftertaste.

“I’d rather starve,” was his response. After that, all was quiet in the kitchen aside from Milo’s instructions and the whirring of the machines.

Zion and Emic arrived as we were placing the completed dishes on the table. “Wonderful timing you two,” Milo said pleasantly. “Have a good night’s sleep?”

“Great, until someone started shouting,” Emic said, making a point to look directly at me as he did. I shrugged. “What’s the plan for today?”

“Target practice to begin with,” Milo listed off, “and then some more hand to hand combat training. You’ll likely get back to fighting the robot together this afternoon, but first Izar and I have prepared a small presentation on general alien etiquette and culture, so you will not be too far out of the loop when we arrive that the rebel base.”

Emic raised his hand. “Am I excused for that? I mean, I kinda was already part of the rebels before this.”

“You may be excused for it, yes. But you will definitely be missing out. We’ve made it quite entertaining.”

“Yeah, but is it better than a nap?” Emic asked, laughing at his own joke. The chatter continued with the only one not contributing (shockingly) being Charlie. All too soon we were heading towards the training room.

“This exercise is similar to the one we did yesterday with lights. Except now instead of touching them, you have to shoot them,” Milo instructed as he called the program up. “I elected to leave the floor as it is, but if you decide later on that there needs to be more of a challenge, I have prepared an option for that.”

Zion nodded, heading towards the center of the room. “Alright team. Let’s do our best.”

“Got Milo catering to your needs now?” Charlie muttered as he walked past. “Bet you got up early just to ask him to make training easier for you.”

“Fuck off,” I answered through gritted teeth. I raised my blaster, getting ready. _Won’t be so cocky if I beat him,_ I thought, determined to do just that.

Of course, I had forgotten that he was practically a master marksman already if his shooting yesterday said anything about it. The lights appeared at random all around the room, some closer and some farther. I shot at as many as I could, as quickly as I could, but only a fraction of my shots actually hit the target.

In the meantime, Charlie would have accurately been able to pick off several targets, flawlessly moving from one to the next.

Before I knew it, he was far above the rest of us in points. Zion’s automatic weapon wasn’t necessarily the best for aiming, but a short burst of fire would more than likely hit the target. Emic was having a harder than me, holding a blaster identical to mine and struggling to even get close to hitting a nearby target.

The game of sorts lasted about ten minutes before it stopped. “Excellently done, Charlie,” Milo said. “Though I may have a suggestion for your weapon choice. Would you mind coming with me? Emic, you as well.” Annoyed, but smug at receiving the praise, Charlie strutted across the room, followed by Emic.

“You’re getting better with that,” Zion said. “You managed to outshoot Emic.” He nodded towards the scores displayed on the wall.

“I don’t think a gun’s really his thing.” I shrugged. “Not sure if it’s mine either.”

“I’m sure you’ll get there,” Zion assured me. “You seem like the type that never gives up on anything. You seemed to already be getting the hang of it there at the end.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

The door slid open again and the three returned. Emic has a slimmer blaster now, which definitely fit him better than the bulky one he’d had. But that wasn’t what immediately caught my attention. Along with the two pistols he’d chosen yesterday holstered on his belt, Charlie was carrying the sniper rifle, a dangerous grin spread across his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come talk to me!  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch


	39. A Small Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karter wins a small victory for himself.

The days flew by. Training was hard and seemed to only get harder. Little by little, I started to understand the ship’s computer and was able to access the library to continue learning more and more about various planets and people who had been a major influence in the rebellion. I also used it to do as much research on the Shifting Staff as possible, but there was little written about it.

“Well, no one has a very definite idea about the limits of what a staff can do,” Milo said at the end of the first week when I asked him. We were training in the early morning again before everyone else had gotten up. “Even the creator wasn’t sure. Some people were capable of unlocking certain powers while others used different ones. It comes down to the person, just like how it does for who the staff will open for and who it won’t.”

“Will I be able to unlock those powers?” I asked.

Milo shrugged. “I cannot say for sure. I do not see why you wouldn’t, but the staff is picky. Only time will tell. In the meantime, let’s see how your defense is coming along.” He pressed a button on the console and a robot dropped from the ceiling, wielding a long sword.

It sprang into action immediately, sword crashing down against the middle of the staff as I blocked it. Grunting, I slipped out from under it, rolling to the side and popping back up to my feet. Around and around we danced like that, me always deflecting the large blade, but unable to attack. That was the drawback of fighting something with heavy armor and no actual sense of pain with a metal stick: there was no real way of causing any damage to it.

 _Unless I manage to activate one of the secret power things,_ I thought to myself.

I kept managed to keep up the pace for another minute before I slipped up. One foot caught on the other and back on to the ground, keeping a strong grip on the staff. The robot loomed over me and I thought back to that day of training when the team had saved me after I froze up. They weren’t here to do that now though. It was up to me to save myself now.

The sword was raised up, reading to come crashing down. My thoughts were racing. I could just hold it off with the staff and tell Milo to shut it down remotely. That was the logical thing to do. The safe way.

 _Wars aren’t won without taking risks._ I held onto the staff a little tighter, feeling power hum through it. Sitting up, I slashed at one of the legs, finding that the staff was capable of cutting through it with ease. I scrambled back to safety as the robot went down on one leg. Out of range, I looked down that the end of the staff.

It glowed a bright white-blue color, stopping just above where my hand held it. _Fuckin’ awesome._ Running forward at the still moving robot, I blocked the sword with the inactive end before slicing straight through the robot’s head, disabling it for good. As I stood over the pile of metal, I watched the glow fade out quickly, whispering a soft thanks to the staff.

The sound of clapping made me jump and I spun around to look at Milo. “That was incredible, Karter. Absolutely marvelous! What an excellent job. You did it.”

“Yeah, I did.” I checked the time on the wall. “Zion’ll be getting up soon. I should go help him make breakfast.” We had finally gotten around to having those team-cooking lessons together and had since made a schedule of when who would cook what meal. I usually helped out either way, enjoying the normalcy of being in a kitchen. Of course, Charlie had refused to participate in either the lessons or making food.

In fact, it seemed that every day he was pulling farther and farther away from the group. Any time outside of training he tended to stay in either his room or the control room, though he left quickly anytime someone else entered. It was weird, and I may not be his biggest fan, I was certainly getting worried about him.

“But don’t you realize what this means, Karter?” Milo asked, interrupting my train of thoughts.

“Hmm? What?”

“Since you were able to defeat a bot on your own, I’m sure it won’t be long before you can use the staff in team practices as well. Of course, you’ll have to wait until you’re sure you can activate it every time, but the way you’ve been going, that shouldn’t be too long at all.” He beamed at me with immense pride.

I smiled back. “Thanks, Milo. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

“I was glad to do it. You go now. I’m sure Zion will be waiting for you by now.” I nodded, turning to head out the exit. I missed the way his expression saddened as he looked at me leave, quietly saying, “I only hope it keeps you alive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was debating posting this last night bc i wasn't sure if i'd have time/remember to do it this morning, but here I am, at far too early o'clock. 
> 
> Come talk to me!   
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	40. Problem Child Charlie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie pls you're part of a team, act like it

“Hey,” Zion said when I entered. “Where’d you sneak off to this morning?”

“Helping Milo out with some things,” I answered. I glanced at what he was doing. “Need me to do something?”

“Uh, wash those leafy things.” He gestured vaguely to a pile of bright yellow lettuce-like vegetables. “It kinda freaked me out. I thought I was going crazy for a moment.”

I paused in my alien vegetable washing. “Oh. Sorry. I just couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t want to wake you up, so I just snuck out…” I trailed off, hoping he would drop it. I hadn’t told the others about training to use the staff yet. Part of me wanted to surprise them one day when I was actually good at it. Another part of me was scared that they’d laugh and say I was wasting my time, that I should focus on getting better at my blaster instead of trying to master some weird alien staff that didn’t work half the time.

I’m not sure what I would do if that happened.

“You don’t seem to be sleeping much at all,” Zion began. “You’re always up before anyone else and usually you’re the last to bed.”

Shrugging, I said, “Guess I just don’t need that much sleep in space.”

Zion frowned at me. “Just don’t go exhausting yourself. I know you want to do your best all the time, but you can’t do that if you’re barely functioning.”

“I know. I’m fine, I promise,” I said reassuringly. “Don’t worry about me. There are more important things to think about.”

“More important things that my teammate’s health?”

“Yeah, like the eggs that you’re about to burn,” I said with a laugh. I heard him swear profusely under his breath as he hurried to save breakfast. It was easy to move the conversation away from me after that, trying to keep it on cooking and weird foods we’d had back on Earth.

Emic showed up shortly before the food was finished, adding in his own strange food experiences. Breakfast was laid out on the table and Izar and Milo appeared to sit down and eat with us. Charlie remained absent.

“Should someone go get him?” I asked, looking at his usual chair with concern.

“I’m sure he just wants to sleep in,” Emic said with a yawn. “Wish I could, but I love food.”

“I thought you loved sleep?” I teased.

He stuck his tongue out at me. “Shut up. Food, sleep, and I are all in a lovely relationship with each other and I don’t need any of your snide comments messing it up.”

“Maybe I should go get him,” Zion thought out loud, glancing at the door. “He really should eat something before training.”

“He didn’t eat much at dinner last night either,” Milo commented.

“Maybe he isn’t feeling well,” Emic suggested.

Zion stood up decisively. “I’ll get him. Finish eating.”

Once our leader was out of the room, I turned to Emic, leaning over to say, “What’re the odds he actually gets Charlie out of his room without completely pissing him off?”

“Very small.”

We finished eating with no sign of Zion coming back with or without Charlie. “Shall we head to the training room?” Milo asked after Izar left. “They can join us there.” The three of us walked out into the hall. As we reached the training room door, Charlie’s shouting voice floated up from down the stairs.

It was hard to make out what he was saying, but there was a myriad of curse words strewn throughout it. A door closed again, cutting off the words in the middle of his rant. Zion came up the stairs, expression dark.

“Charlie won’t be joining us for training.”

His words brooked no argument and none of us were brave enough to ask the reason behind it, so we just rolled with it. “I thought we might start with a little warm-up and practice using the suits a bit more,” Milo said.

“Sounds good.” Emic and I nodded, meekly agreeing with Zion.

Training was oddly quiet that day. The atmosphere was stiff and weird, and I couldn’t think of any way to fix it again. It went as well as usual, though fighting the bots was a little harder without a fourth person, and especially without that fourth person being Charlie. We had moved up several levels of difficulty, but now it seemed almost impossible to beat one and we all grimaced when Milo suggested eventually bringing in another one to further simulate battle.

“I think that will be it for now,” Milo said after barely an hour and a half. “I think it would be more beneficial for you to get some rest and reflect on how your own training is going now.”

It was Milo’s nice way of saying: this is pointless so there’s no reason to keep going.

Zion nodded in agreement. “I think that would be good.” As we left the training room, Zion grabbed my arm. “Can I speak with you for a minute?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” I glanced at Emic, shrugging in answer to the question on his face. “See you in a bit, dude.” Emic nodded, heading downstairs as Zion led me into his room. “What’s up?”

The older human sat on his bed, running a tired hand down his face. “I don’t know what to do about Charlie.”

“What happened?” I asked. I sat down next to him. “I heard him yelling, but I couldn’t really make out what he was so angry about.”

“I’m not even sure I know what he’s angry about.” Zion sighed. “He was awake when I went down there, not that he answered when I knocked on the door, I must’ve been standing there waiting for five minutes before I just went in, and he didn’t look sick, so I asked why he wasn’t at breakfast. He said he didn’t feel like it, and I suggested that it’d be good for him to eat something before training. And he just blew up at me. I tried to get him to calm down, but he _wouldn’t,_ and he said all this stuff…”

“Like?” I prompted.

He glanced at me, before fixing his gaze back on the floor. “Stuff. I’m not sure he really meant to say any of it…” Zion trailed off.

“Oh. Okay then.” I sighed, leaning back. “Jeez, this does sound like an issue. I kind of noticed that he’s been avoiding the rest of the team lately. I thought maybe he was just being a dick and not wanting to socialize with us, but maybe something is actually up with him.”

Zion nodded. “I thought something similar, but it’s not like we can just go up and ask him what’s wrong. He’d explode again.”

“Exactly.” I closed my eyes, trying to think of what Knox would do in this situation. He was always good at reading people and figuring out what they needed the most. “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give him some space. Like not completely back off, but let him do what he wants while also knowing that he’s welcome…?” I shrugged. “That’s all I got.”

“It’s more than I could come up with,” Zion said with a little laugh. He opened his mouth to say more when the alarms started going off.

We were under attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment or come talk to me!
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Ingstagram: @jacksonofabitch


	41. Rescuing Rebels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They fight some more. Real shocking.

Zion and I were in the control room in an instant. Izar was already there, having been working on something. Milo, Emic, and Charlie joined us a moment later, all of us hurrying to our positions. “What’s going on?” Zion demanded to know.

“There’s a fight up ahead,” Emic answered, reading off the screen. “A Thearn ship spotted us and is coming to intercept.”

“Who’re they fighting?”

Emic pressed a few more buttons. “It looks like some sort of convoy. Supplies maybe? Those are mainly cargo ships. They’re sending out a distress signal on rebel frequencies, so I think it’d be safe to assume they’re on our side.”

“Let’s help them then. Charlie, get us over there. Karter, be careful not to hit any of the rebel ships. The last thing we need to do is make a bad first impression on them.”

“Yeah, that’d be the worst,” Charlie muttered under his breath. He took control of the ship and out of the corner of my eye I could see him relax. Which was a weird thing to do when we were about to go headfirst into a space battle, but I wasn’t going to bother with questioning it.

As we sped forward, I sent a single, well-aimed missile at the ship that had begun heading towards us, destroying it as we passed by. It seemed so easy now; it was hard for me to believe that I couldn’t figure it out before.

“Thirty seconds until we reach the convoy,” Emic announced.

There were five cargo ships in the convoy, with three fighter class ones there to protect them. Surrounding the rebels were about ten Thearn ships, though none of them were the giant ones that were used when attacking planets. I sent a few shots at the closer ones, being careful that I wouldn’t hit the rebel ships by accident.

Charlie flew straight for the ships, barely pulling up enough that we wouldn’t crash into them and then going back down so we were between the rebels and the Thearns. He continued circling around the cargo ships and between the Thearn ships, and it took me a moment to figure out what he was doing.

He was getting the Thearn’s attention, so they would fire at us, instead of the rebels.

Which was brilliant, since we had the mobility to generally not get hit.

“Hurry up and fire,” Charlie grumbled. “Getting’ tired of this shit.”

“Oh, yeah.” I scrambled to start firing at the Thearns. It was easier to fire at the enemy ships now that the rebels weren’t behind him. Charlie mumbled out when he was going to change direction, which surprised me. I hadn’t thought he’d remember after the last battle.

Before I knew it, the battle was over, and the convoy was moving on towards its destination. We hovered above it, waiting for Emic to make contact with the lead ship.

“Hello? Hello?” a feminine voice said over the speakers. “Is this the ship that came out of nowhere? Who are you?”

“This is the DayBreak,” Zion said in his commanding captain voice. “My name is Zion. We were on our way to the Dalrainian system from Chetelene.”

“DayBreak…” the voice repeated, followed by some incoherent mumbling. “You’re the ship Calath sent us?”

“Uh, yes?”

“Oh, good. My name’s Dianth. I’ll be your commander.” Charlie rolled his eyes. “You certainly were getting here faster than I thought. If you hadn’t stopped to help us, I imagine you’d have gotten back to Dalrai before us.” She laughed. “We’re escorting these supplies back to the base there, as we’re in pretty desperate need of them. We keep losing shipments. Damn Thearns won’t lay off them.”

“We’ll be happy to help you make it back this time,” Zion answered.

“How kind of you,” Dianth said. “We’re stopping at a nearby planet to refuel and make some quick repairs. I’ll send you the coordinates. We can talk face to face then.”

“Sounds wonderful. See you then.” Emic switched off the communication link when Zion gave the signal. “Got the coordinates?”

“Yeah, just got them. Sending them to Charlie. It’s a mostly uninhabited planet. There’s a small settlement on one of the moons that functions as a spaceport.”

“How long until we get there?” I asked.

“An hour by pace they’re going.”

“Well,” Zion started, “there’s no reason for us all to sit in here if you don’t want to until then. You’re welcome to go if you want.” His eyes rested a little longer on Charlie and I remembered what I had suggested about giving him space if he wanted it.

“I’m gonna go get a snack then,” Emic said, standing up. “Karter?”

“Yeah, I’ll go with you.” Milo and Izar both made some excuse about getting some work done and left as well. As I stood in the doorway, I glanced back at where Charlie was still seated, manually flying the ship even though he easily could have set it on autopilot for a while. Zion met my eyes, curious about what I thought.

I shrugged and turned away, letting the door slide closed behind me.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so late! I forgot to do it earlier and then I was away from my computer most of the day.


	42. Snacktime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emic and Karter have a snack and some chats.

“What did Zion want to talk about?” Emic asked as he carefully peeled an alien fruit. “He seemed pretty serious when he pulled you away.”

“He wanted to someone to bounce ideas off of, I guess,” I said, debating if making a cup of tea would be worth the effort. “And some advice.”

“About?”

I glanced at the closed door. “Charlie.”

“Did he say what this morning’s shouting was all about?”

Shrugging, I started pulling out the stuff I needed for space tea. “A little. He was pretty confused about the whole thing as well, so I don’t know any definite reason. He was acting a little weird in the control room, don’t you think? I mean, he wasn’t shouting and I don’t even think he swore at all. It was weird.”

“It _was_ weird. I thought there was something different, but I wasn’t sure what it was. Yeah, something’s up with him. Any idea on what?”

“Not really.” I thought back to Charlie not wanting to stop flying the ship. “Maybe…”

“Maybe what?”

“Ah, nothing. I’m not really sure. Ignore me.” I went about making my tea as Emic ate behind me.

When I brought it over to sit down next to him, he was deep in thought as he contemplated the fruit. “Did you go to bed last night?”

“Yeah?” The answer came out more like a question. “Why?”

“You weren’t in your room.”

“Oh, I was up with Zion.” I said it casually while watching Emic’s expression, praying that this wasn’t going to end up being some weird issue between the two of us.

Emic tilted his head to the side, expression blank, which only added to my stress. “Why?”

“Sometimes he has trouble sleeping,” I said vaguely. I wasn’t sure if Kaithians were capable of having post-traumatic stress disorder, or that Zion would appreciate me sharing something that seemed to be pretty personal. “So, I go up and stay with him.”

“Oh.”

“Is that… okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. I was just curious.” He looked the other way, his tone of voice too light for it to be fine. “I mean, _I_ kind of wanted to stay with you last night, but it’s cool.”

I laughed, nearly snorting tea out of my nose. Emic glared at me. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t expect you to be so jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” he snapped. “I just would have appreciated knowing that you wouldn’t be there, is all.”

“Okay, okay. Next time, I’ll make sure to let you know.”

The Kaithian smiled. “Good.”

“But you don’t have a problem with me going to Zion?”

“Why would I?”

“No reason. Just wanted to make sure.”

We finished our snack and headed back to the control room. Charlie and Zion were still both there, not speaking and just watching space fly by. “Oh, you’re back,” Zion said when we came in. “Emic, could you give us an estimate on how much longer before we arrive?”

“Yeah, sure.” He walked over to his station. “Ten minutes.”

“Good.”

I walked down to the front, sliding into my seat as quietly as I could. Charlie barely gave any acknowledgment of my presence, keeping his entire being focused on the controls of the ship. “Uh, hey,” I said after a moment.

“Fuck off.”

 _Okay then._ I poked around at the computer, drawing up what information the ship had on the base we were going to and started reading through it to pass the time. There wasn’t much to say other than it was originally founded by pirates and now was a somewhat shady, but mostly safe port. It was essentially a sketchy, space gas station. I chuckled at the comparison.

“The fuck you laughing about?”

“Oh, uh, nothing, I guess.”

“Don’t fuckin’ say it’s nothing. Why’re you laughing?” Charlie growled, voice rising.

In a rush to keep him from shouting, I said, “I was just reading about the base thing we’re going to.”

“And you found something funny?”

“Not really. But I thought that it sounded sort of like a sketchy space gas station, and I thought _that_ was kinda funny, so…” I trailed off, glancing at him to see if he was ready to start shouting at me.

He rolled his eyes. “The fuck is wrong with your head?” Charlie muttered rolling his eyes. He didn’t say anything after that, so I guessed I had gotten away with only minimal swearing and a few insults. I wasn’t sure if that an improvement or if I should be concerned for his health.

A large planet was rapidly approaching now. Charlie followed the convoy to one of its many moons. After we had landed, we paused, unsure of what to do next. “Are we supposed to go and meet her? Or is she meeting us? Do we meet in the middle somewhere?” I wondered out loud.

“Good question.” Zion turned to Emic. “Any word from Dianth?”

“Not yet. She’s in the bay next to us though, so we could just walk over and see what’s up.”

Just then, a chirping noise came from his console. “There’s an alert,” he mumbled. He pressed something on the screen and video feed popped up on the large screen. A tall, very human looking woman was standing there, looking at something below the camera. “I think that’s the entrance to the ship.”

“Well, that solves that.” Zion stood up, straightening his fitted armor that couldn’t really shift out of place. “Time to go meet our commander then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today was my first day of the spring semester and I'm already tired (I had one (1) class). Someone send me money these books are too expensive
> 
> As always I'd love to chat!  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	43. Meet the Rebels

“Greetings crew of the DayBreak. It is a pleasure to meet you face to face at last.” Dianth said once we’d exited the ship. “I have heard much about your deeds on Chetelene.” Her eyes drifted over to where Charlie stood. He glared back at her. “I am glad to see that your ship is as powerful and fast as I was told.”

“I’m glad that we were able to make it in time,” Zion answered. “Is the rest of your crew okay?”

She smiled at him, revealing a mouth full of very sharp, pointy teeth. “A few bumps and bruises, but nothing to worry about. The engine on one of the cargo ships was damaged pretty badly, however. It’ll take a few hours to repair it. If you wish to come with me, I’ll be happy to introduce you to the crew of my ship in the meantime. The other ships and crews are being borrowed from other bases, so it’s unlikely that you’ll be working closely with them after this, so there’s little point.”

Dianth offered her arm, and Zion took is with a soft smile. “That sounds like a wonderful idea,” he said as she led him towards the door.

“Gross,” Charlie said. “Can I stay here?” he asked Milo.

“Nonsense. You should go and meet your new comrades.” He gave Charlie a happy little pat on the shoulder. “There should be someone to stay with the ship though.”

“I will,” Izar offered. “I’d suggest that the rest of you hurry. I suspect they don’t realize you’re not behind them.” He nodded to where Dianth and Zion were walking through the bay door.

We hurried to catch up before they got out of sight. They were in the middle of a conversation when we did, completely unaware that they’d left us behind. “—my second in command, Chella, is in charge of the base on Dalrai until I return. He’s not a talkative guy, but he’s a damn good strategist. I’m not sure if we would have made it as long as we have without him.”

“I’m sure you were just as large a factor in the fighting as he was,” Zion said. “You are the commander after all.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Zion,” she said with a laugh. “I’m just a good shot and able to keep calm under pressure. That’s about it for my commander qualifications. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to be too picky about who’s in charge.”

Still being ignored, the two walked into the next bay where Dianth’s fighter ship had landed. “Oi, you lot! Gather up. Time to meet the new crew!”

Three aliens of different races popped out of various places around the ship. “Got yourself a new friend?” a reptilian male said from atop one of the wings where he had been welding something. He smirked, laughing before jumping down to the ground. “Better watch yourself with the commander,” the alien said as he offered a hand to Zion, “she’s all sweet and nice now, but she can get pretty damn nasty in a fight.”

“Shut up, Tarnic,” Dianth chided. “He’s my engineer on the ship.”

“The ship I’ve practically rebuilt twice over because someone keeps getting us into trouble,” Tarnic said with a pointed look at Dianth.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Zion said, shaking the alien’s hand. “I’m Zion—”

“Ah, it might be best to wait for the rest of them to get here before starting the introductions. So we don’t have to repeat,” Dianth cut him off with a smile. “This is Greme, our pilot.” A deep blue alien approached, smiling. I was _fairly_ sure he was Kaithian like Emic, but I hadn’t seen any others of his kind to really be sure. “And last, but not least, is our communications, weapons, and pretty much every other odd job there is guy, Talc.” A very tall, very broad alien came up behind the others. His skin was covered (or made up of?) grayish rock. “Now you can start your introductions.”

“Right. Well, I’m Zion.” Zion turning partway in our direction and pointing to us as he said our names. “This is Charlie, our pilot. Emic, our engineer and communications. Milo, who’s kind of our go-to on surviving this whole thing. And Karter, who runs the weapons system. There’s also Izar, back at the ship, who helps out with the team and the ship.”

“Charlie, the guy who punched Zaladr?” Greme asked.

Next to me, Charlie bristled, mouth opening to start shouting. “Yeah, that’s him,” Zion said. “Please don’t bring it up again. Bit of a touchy subject.”

“Well, it’s not like Zaladr hasn’t said more than enough things to get himself punched,” Tarnic said. He reached out a hand to Charlie. “Glad to finally meet you.”

For a moment, Charlie just glared at the hand before he slowly reached out. He held it for barely a second before letting his arm drop back to his side. Tarnic barely seemed bothered by the slight. The two crews melded together, separating off into smaller groups as conversations were started up. Dianth, Zion, Milo, and Talc ended up in one, while Emic and Greme split off, leaving Tarnic, Charlie, and me together.

“So, Karter, was it? What planet are you from? How did you end up here?” Tarnic asked.

“I’m from a planet called Earth. Zion and Charlie are as well. It was just taken over by the Thearns a week and a half ago.” _Was it really that short of a time?_ “That’s actually how we all met: on board a Thearn ship. Milo was the one who broke us out.”

Tarnic stared at us. “You broke _out of a Thearn ship?”_ he asked, voice getting louder in his surprise, attracting the attention of the others. “How is that even possible?”

“It was all Milo’s plan,” I started to explain, but Dianth’s crew wasn’t listening as they listed off all the reasons that it couldn’t be possible, that the Thearns would never have let them get away. “They didn’t, really. That’s why we had to fly through the magnetic storm…” I trailed off as they all turned to stare at me.

Then all hell broke loose.


	44. The Story Told

Questions flew from every direction, all aimed at me for some odd reason. It took several seconds and a bit of shouting from Zion and Charlie to get them to quiet down again. “Maybe it’d be best for one person to tell the entire story,” he suggested calmly.

Dianth nodded. “Yes, yes. It’d much more organized that way. Perhaps we should sit down in one of the community rooms? We could have some snacks.”

“Snacks are good,” Emic said, Greme nodding eagerly.

We swiftly moved from the bay to a large room full of mismatched chairs and tables. Only one other alien was there, sitting at the far end and appearing to be very asleep, though it was hard to tell with it being wrapped up in a cloak of some sort. After a bit of quick shuffling of the furniture, we had created a long table and surrounded it with enough chairs for all of us. The DayBreak crew took one side, while Dainth’s crew took the other. A myriad of different foods was spread out on the table between us.

Zion cleared his throat. “So, well, who wants to tell it?”

“Why don’t you?” Dianth asked, batting her eyes. As she did, another clear eyelid blinked sideways over her eye, which was only mildly creepy.

The captain was spared from answering as Milo said, “I think it may be best if I do. After all, like Karter said, it was my plan.” Charlie rolled his eyes, leaning back on the back legs of his chair and crossing his arms. “I had been carefully gathering supplies and storing them in a specially built pod on the ship I had been forced to work on,” he began. “I believe the Thearns were planning to go through the storm themselves at some point in the near future, but no one had been near the pod in that time. I had been getting visions of an arrival for many days before I felt drawn to go to the solitary tank, where I found these four.”

After that point, my attention faded out, having already lived through the story. _Milo had visions of us arriving there?_ I thought to myself. _Well, he did say he believed we were part of the prophecy. Izar’s prophecy, I guess._ The whole space magic thing was still very confusing and weird.

Beside me, Emic shifted in his seat. ‘Bored,’ he mouthed at me when I gave him a questioning glance. None of the other crew’s members were paying attention to us, all of their focus was on Milo and the apparently very impossible tale he was telling.

‘Same,’ I mouthed back. My gaze drifted over to the other alien in the room. But they weren’t where they had been anymore. I scanned the room, finding the little, wrapped up figure mostly hidden in a chair that was much closer to us. I frowned, nodding towards it.

Emic turned to look, frowning when he saw that the alien had moved.

Our shift of attention had gained the notice of Charlie, who glared at the strange alien. When said alien rose from its seat, the three of us tensed as we stared it down, finally gaining the attention of the others. We watched as the alien approached part way to us, paused for a moment, and then hurried towards the exit. The older crew half got to their feet, reaching for the weapons at their belt.

In an instant, Charlie had vaulted over the table, sprinting to stop the alien from leaving. The two fell to the ground as they struggled against each other. Dianth was next to them a beat later, nails sharpening to long claws and her skin seeming to turn to flesh-colored scales that flared up.

“Stop! Stop, it’s just me!” the alien cried out. The cloak fell away, revealing a sharp face, pointed ears, and reddish-pink hair. “Why are rebels so suspicious all the time?” The alien said, pouting when Charlie still kept her pinned down.

“Firefly?” Dianth questioned, posture relaxing. “What’re you doing here?” The woman patted Charlie’s shoulder, signaling that he could let the alien get up.

He did grudgingly, and the small alien, Firefly, got to her feet and wrapped the cloak around her again, though keeping her face uncovered. “I was here to give you a message from Nyx, but then I saw them, and I thought that it might be _them,_ so I wanted to see if they were who I thought they were, but then _he_ tackled me.”

“What’s the message?”

“Axel is an ass. Please save me.”

Tarnic snorted, messily covering it with a cough. Dianth sighed, rubbing a hand down her face, smoothing down the scales that were still sticking up. “Nyx sent you all the way here for that?”

“I think it’s not impossible Nyx knew they would be here.” Firefly nodded to us. “They’re kind of creepy like that.”

“How do you know about us?” Zion asked. “You said you thought were someone.”

“Well, it’s a bit weird for humans to come this deep into space on their own, so usually that means there’s something pretty weird going on. And a group of three of them with a Lacarean high priest? There’s only one scenario I can think of that happening in. So, I was gonna go see if Izar and the DayBreak were around…”

“How do you know about the DayBreak?”

“And Izar?” Milo tacked on, looking very concerned.

Firefly glanced at the door, looking somewhat distressed at having to answer these questions. “Can you just take me to Izar? I’d rather talk to him first before I tell you anything.”

“Why don’t you answer the questions first?” Charlie growled head tilted back as he glared down his nose at her. “You’re acting pretty damn suspicious right now. Pretty fuckin’ sure it’d be a bad idea to let you near our ship.”

Firefly shrank back from him, hands tugging at her clothes in worry. “I’m not suspicious,” she said softly.

“Please don’t bully her, Charlie,” said a calm voice from the door. Izar had come in without any of us noticing. “She’s an old friend of mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought that this was a different chapter that I wanted to cut apart out of being it's nonsense so I put off posting this one which is why it's so late. Sorry!


	45. Firefly

“Izzy!” Firefly shouted, ducking around the people who’d surrounded her and leaping into the prophet’s arms. “It’s been so long.”

“Five hundred years,” he said with a little laugh, gently placing her down on the ground. “How have things been without me?”

Firefly’s shoulders drooped. “Exhausting. We’ve been trying to stop Savik’s scourge from spreading, but we can barely get it to slow down. I was beginning to think there wouldn’t be anything left for the DayBreak to save by the time it woke up again. I’m so glad to see you again!”

“Wait, you _know_ her? Like she’s as old as you?”

“Older actually,” Firefly said with a smile. “I look good for how old I am, don’t you think?” She did a cute pose, winking.

“How old are you?” Charlie asked.

“Never ask a lady’s age,” she said.

“ _Are_ you a lady?”

“Enough,” Zion said, exasperated. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

Dianth nodded. “My thoughts exactly. Firefly, are you done here, or do you need something else? I would very much like to finish hearing their tale. It’s quite exciting.”

“I still want to see the ship…” she said, looking at Izar pleadingly.

“We can take her there,” Emic offered, pulling me forward a step along with him. “We already know the whole thing so…”

Firefly brightened. “That sounds like a lovely idea. I’d love to get to know the DayBreak’s crew.” Without waiting for permission from the others, she grabbed both our hands and dragged us from the room with surprising strength. “So, what are your names?” she asked as she led us unfailingly to the bay where the ship was.

“I’m Karter,” I said. “This is Emic.”

“The oddball of the group,” she noted. “Must be sad to be the only one of your kind in the crew. Still, you can at least meet others of your race. Not all have such a luxury.” Her voice retained the same level of cheeriness even though her eyes did not. “I feel so lucky to have been able to meet you before Nyx does. It’s quite incredible. Nyx always knows where and when the exciting things are going to happen and always gets there first.”

“Who is Nyx?” Emic asked. “I’ve never heard of him.”

“It’s more of a them,” she said, her voice upturning at the end like she wasn’t sure that was the answer. “I mean, there’s Nyx the person, but then there’s Nyx the crew led by Nyx the person. They don’t really act separately, so usually Nyx is just Nyx as a whole group.”

Emic shrugged when I looked at him for an explanation. “And you’re their messenger?” I asked.

She glared at me like I said something offensive. “I am no one’s _messenger._ I occasionally deliver important information to other people when a transmission isn’t safe, but I do it out of the kindness of my heart, not as a job. What nonsense.” We stepped into the bay and her face lit up the moment she saw the ship. “Darling! I’ve missed you so!”

Emic and I stood back as she ran across the bay and hugged the ship, murmuring something to it as she lovingly stroked it. “This is the weirdest thing that’s ever happened, and I literally fly around in a living spaceship.”

“Maybe she’s friends with the ship, too,” Emic said. I laughed loudly, attracting the attention of the pink-haired girl. She waved us over. “What do you think she’s saying to it?” he asked out of the corner of his mouth as we walked over.

“Probably asking if we treat her right.”

The Kaithian hurried to suppress a laugh as Firefly skipped over to us. “What’s funny?” she asked, innocently between the two of us.

“Thinking about how jealous Charlie would be if he saw you hug the ship. He really loves it,” I said with a straight face. Emic burst out laughing and had to turn away as he covered his mouth to muffle is giggles.

Firefly smiled, which was not what I had expected her to do. “Yes, the DayBreak told me. He seems to have already developed a very deep bond with it already.”

“So, you did see her when she was first built?” Emic asked once he had recovered himself. “Were you there during the actual construction? What was it like?”

“Um, well, I was there, for a little bit of it.” Her fingers twisted together nervously. “I can’t really say much about it, I’m afraid.”

“Why? Is it top secret?”

“No. I didn’t understand much of anything that they were doing. I just cheered them on and brought them snacks.”

“Oh.” Emic’s posture noticeably drooped. “Izar couldn’t tell me anything either. The ship itself seems very simple and standard, but the things it can do are beyond any technology we have today, and it was built five hundred years ago. I mean, we don’t have to refuel it at all. It has practically unlimited firing capability. It can outrace and outmaneuver practically any ship. It’s amazing.”

I nodded. “Yeah. It’s pretty great. Do you wanna go inside now or just wait out here? Or are you good now that you had your chat with her?”

“I would like to see the control room if that is okay. I will get a much better feel of her thoughts from there.”

“That’s another unbelievable thing about the ship,” Emic said as we walked on board. “The ship’s system seems to mimic a complex nervous system. Everything leads to the control room, which is essentially the brain. But it seems to have a second one with the engine itself.”

“Like a heart,” I said jokingly.

Emic looked confused. “Why is a blood pump similar to a second brain?”

“Well, you can make decisions with your heart that your head disagrees with,” I said, voice growing quieter as the two aliens stared at me. “I guess it’s a human thing.”

“Fascinating.”

“Weird.” Firefly turned on her heel and headed down the hall, reaching the stairs before we even made to go after her. As she did, she mused to herself, “Why are all humans so strange? First the other one, and now this one too?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like putting off something for two days to do a whole five minutes worth of editing (if that)
> 
> I promise I will post the next chapter on time tomorrow! 
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	46. Dalrai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They reach Dalrai

“Other human?” I asked, dashing after her. “Firefly? What other human did you meet?”

“Well, I’ve met several humans,” she said vaguely as she drifted into the control room, fingers trailing over the walls. “I have visited Earth after all. Your civilization was only just beginning to form though, so I don’t you know anyone I met.”

“So, you meant one them was weird?” I asked, a little disappointed but intrigued.

“Oh, no. They were all very logical. I meant one that I met recently. Just a few days ago after Nyx broke him out of a Thearn prison. I thought that it was because his brains were a little scrambled, but I guess humans have become very strange while I’ve been away.”

I perked back up, thinking _could it be…?_ But it couldn’t, logically. There were probably millions of people taken from Earth when the Thearns took over. It couldn’t be him. The chances of it were tiny, near impossible. There was no point in getting my hopes up like this. “Well, maybe we’ll get to see this other human one day. Then we’ll see if he’s weird or not.”

“With luck, you’ll never meet Nyx,” Talc said as he walked in, looking around the control room. “This ship is amazing. It’s so roomy and not falling apart.”

“It certainly is nice being a ship that doesn’t seem ready to fall apart at any given moment,” Firefly said. “I’m beginning to think flying around in a shambling piece of junk is a requirement for rebels.”

“Aren’t you one?” Emic asked. “A rebel?”

Firefly shrugged. “I work against Savik and the Thearns, so I guess one could call me a rebel. But I am not necessarily part of the rebel organization. The only reason I’m around them so much is that I’m around Nyx as much as I am.”

“I don’t know why you would want to be around them so much,” Talc said with a sigh.

“What’s wrong with them?”

“They’re a very good and accomplished team, but their methods are rather… odd.” The tall alien glanced at Firefly as if afraid of offending her.

The pink-haired alien nodded in agreement. “There is truly no one quite like Nyx. Especially those two. But there are also few groups more coordinated or useful.” She smiled at us. “Hopefully, the crew of the DayBreak will at least be able to make a worthy rival to them one day.”

“If not surpass them,” Talc said, smiling widely while putting a heavy hand on my shoulder.

“Unlikely, but it is a worthy enough goal.”

“Glad you have so much confidence of in us.”

“No problem.”

~

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” Dianth said over the coms before it cut off with a crackle.

“Finally,” Charlie said under his breath. He quickly moved the ship out of the bay and into open space. Raising his voice louder so Zion could hear. “Don’t see why we have to go _with_ them though. We could just go ahead and meet them on the stupid planet.”

“Because they need the supplies to actually arrive,” Zion reminded him, voice holding a little more steel than usual. “Just be patient until Emic has the course set and you’ll be free to go and do as you please.”

Charlie slumped down in his seat, hands jerking the controls a bit harsher than usual. “You really like flying this thing, don’t you?” I asked, quiet enough that the others wouldn’t hear.

“Fuck off.”

“Just a question.”

“Fuck off, useless shit.”

I left the insult unanswered, watching as the other ships in the rebel convoy slowly came into the traveling formation that had been agreed upon.

Soon enough, we were properly underway; the course was set, and we were free to do whatever. Life continued on as it had during the first week aboard the ship, except now we were facing an extra week before we arrived. Zion spent much of his free time in the control room talking with Dianth or one of the other captains, learning as much as he could about rebel procedure.

I would occasionally slip in and listen as well for a while. Unless he was talking to Dianth. Then I’d get out of there as soon as I could.

Training with the Staff continued on much like it had before, still hidden from the others and still difficult. It was a lot harder to get it to activate its powers than it was to get it to open, and I had only managed to do it once more by the time we arrived at the rebel base on Dalrai. It was frustrating, and it was only made worse by Charlie’s constant criticism of what I was doing during training.

Charlie’s mood had grown worse over time, only getting better for brief periods whenever there was a Thearn attack, but there were only three small ones the first week we spent with the convoy, and none the second. By the time we landed, everyone was glad to be able to have a little more distance between us and Charlie.

As we walked out onto the alien planet, I marveled at how _Earth_ like it looked. There were giant green trees, the sky was blue, the air was fresh and good after so long aboard the ship. The base was busy with people always running back and forth, moving the supplies from the cargo ships to where they were to be stored, but if you ignored that they were all aliens, then you could almost pretend that it was some military base back on Earth.

“Almost looks like home, don’t you think?” Zion asked, quietly coming up behind me. “It reminds me of the base I was stationed at for a while.”

“It’s more jungle-y than any place I’ve been to, but,” I took a deep breath, taking in the rich smell of dirt and the feeling of the planet’s star warm on my face, “it certainly feels like Earth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so weird posting a chapter so soon again. I really need to work on not putting posting off for so long. 
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	47. Base Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get a tour of the Dalrai base

“DayBreak crew, I would like you to meet Chella, my second in command.” Dianth led a tall, lean, fierce-looking man up to where we stood. A worn cloak covered much of his body, but I could still see the large gun tucked into a holster at his waist. His head was completely bald, showing a myriad of white-grey scars that crossed his blue skin. Dark, deep-set eyes watched us carefully from an impassive face. “Chella, this is our new fighting crew.”

“I’ve heard you’re not bad in a fight,” he said to us, though it was mainly pointed at Zion. “Hopefully you’ll live up to your reputation.” Chella has a slow way of speaking, putting emphasis on certain syllables, giving his speech a rolling sort of rhythm that wasn’t unpleasant, but it was odd and distinct.

Zion nodded. “I’m sure Dianth found our combat ability satisfying on the way here.”

“Fighting in a ship and fighting on the ground in enemy territory are very different things. While your ship may be good enough for fighting Thearns, it is _you_ that we need to be fighting.” He turned his head back as if he’d heard someone calling for him. “I must return to my other duties now. Welcome to Dalrai. May your stay be a long and healthy one.”

“What a nice guy. Real cheery.”

“Shut up, Charlie.”

~

There was a long, long tour of the base after that. Greme and Talc were the ones who showed us around as Dianth was called away moments after Chella left. There wasn’t much of interest, other than the mess hall, which was the social hub of the base, and the control center, where meetings were held and orders were sent out. The rest was mainly endless rooms of storage and living quarters which had little do with us as we were staying on the ship. Much of it was underground, a fairly distant walk from where our ship was hidden beneath the canopy.

“That way if the Thearns attack the ships, we’re still pretty okay,” Greme explained. “We have other ships stored away, so we won’t be stuck unless they find them as well, but that’s unlikely.”

“They haven’t yet at the very least,” Talc added.

The sun had begun to set when we finally returned to the ship that evening, having enjoyed dinner in the mess hall surrounded by our fellow rebels and a large number of empty chairs. “That was fun,” I said brightly as we walked through the lounge.

“We’re not here to have fun,” Charlie sneered, shoving past me to get to the hall.

I stuck my tongue out at his back before turning to look at the others. “What’re we going to do about him?” I asked the others once the door slid shut behind him. “He really can’t be acting like this all the time. He’s going to end up punching someone again.”

“Maybe he doesn’t like the change?” Emic said. “Maybe he’s just homesick and this is just how he’s trying to cope with it.”

“He needs to find a better way of coping,” Zion stated. “We really can’t have a team member that barely interacts with the team.”

Milo nodded sagely. “Indeed. Perhaps someone should speak with him about his recent behavior.”

All eyes turned to me. “What? He hates me more than anyone else here. I can’t do it.”

“Someone has to. You said it yourself, he’s going to end up punching someone,” Emic said. “And you’re the best at talking to people out of all of us. I’m sure if you could get him to sit down long enough, you’ll work everything out.”

“Did you forget that the first person he punched was _me?”_ They all exchanged looks before shrugging. “Really guys?”

“You managed to get him to go along with us even after he punched you,” Zion reminded me. “And you made a good team during that second fight with the Thearns.”

I let out a loud groan. “I’m going to get punched again. Maybe worse. He has a gun now. Oh, God, what if he _kills_ me?”

“Then we’ll know you did everything you could.” Emic patted my arm. “Go on. Zion and I will take of dinner. We can even make your favorite in honor of your passing.”

“I never should have taught you about dark humor.” With a final pleading look at Zion and Milo, I made my way to the door, tossing a “you guys owe me one,” over my shoulder. Sighing, I stood outside of Charlie’s door, trying to work up the courage to actually knock.

 _What if he doesn’t want to talk? Or worse, what if he_ does? I thought to myself. I had no idea what I was going to say, or do, or act. Charlie didn’t seem the type to respond with the soft and concerned friend, but if I tried to be all tough and shit, he’d probably just kick my ass and tell me to fuck off.

 _Violence can be therapeutic,_ a small voice in my head said.

“Not when it’s aimed at my face,” I muttered to myself in response. “Fuck it.”

I knocked on the door loudly. There was no answer. I knocked again. He had to be in there, right? There was nowhere else he really went in the ship other than his room. 

“—t the fuck do you want?” Charlie was saying as the door violently slid open. I wasn’t even aware that you _could_ control the speed the doors opened. His gaze lowered slightly to me. “Go away. I’m not in the mood.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Can I come in?”

“No.”

“Okay.” I cleared my throat. “You’re ruining the team dynamic. Again, I guess.”

“I don’t care.”

“That’s the problem. We’re supposed to care. We’re the heroes of the universe. Caring is our job now.”

“Then I quit.”

I sighed. “We’ve been over this. You can’t quit.”

“Then leave me the fuck alone.” The door slid shut and the light next to it flashed red, signaling that it was locked now.

“Good talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Charlie you shitty emo child
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	48. Mission One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team does some heroic shit

“Remember to stick to the plan, guys,” Zion’s voice reminded us over the coms. “We get in, we do our job, we get out. Nice and quiet. _Try_ not to set off any alarms.” Emic and I both voiced our agreements while Charlie just grunted. “Everyone, remember what to do when if the alarms do go off?”

“Hope they go after Karter?”

“Charlie now’s not the time,” Zion said. “Just get back to the ship if you can. If you can’t, go to the back- up rendezvous point as soon as possible. It should be programmed into the suit’s systems. Right, Emic?”

“Yep. It should be there, along with the map of the facility and everyone’s goals.”

“Alright. We are good to go. Radio silence from here on out. Good luck, guys.”

I took a deep breath, slowly rising from where I had been crouching in the bushes. This planet, the nearly exact twin of the one the rebels occupied, was the host of the largest Thearn operation within the system. And we were breaking into it.

Each of us had our jobs: Emic was to hack into the main computer for information, Zion and Charlie were planting a series of bombs around the supplies and power source of the facility, and I was to take out their ships. We had gone through the procedure and the plan a hundred times. It was supposed to be easy as long as we remained calm and moved quickly.

Carefully, I slid through the low growing plants towards the outer wall of the Thearn facility, keeping an eye on the timer at the bottom of my visor. Twenty minutes, in and out. Just as I reached the base of the wall, an explosion went off on the other side of the facility, drawing the Thearn’s attention away from the side we were entering on.

I counted to ten, then took a few steps back, and with a running head start, ran part way up the wall, leaping forward to grab on to the ledge. Quietly thanking Milo for insisting I train harder with the suit, I pulled myself up, keeping an eye out for movement. Along the wall, I saw two other shapes crawling over, and one more dropping down the other side.

Quickly, I did the same and began jogging to the right, keeping an eye on the timer. The ships were easy to find, neatly lined up just where they were supposed to be. A few Thearns guarded the perimeter, but they all faced outward. Once I had managed to sneak past, it was easy to move around within the ships themselves, placing the bombs as I went.

Once my bag had run empty and there wasn’t a spot in the shipyard that wasn’t about to be blown to bits, I started to make my exit.

 _That wasn’t so bad. The first ground mission is a success,_ I thought proudly, starting back towards the wall.

And then a plasma blast flashed inches in front of my face.

I jerked back, startled, turning to see two Thearns, weapons raised walking towards me. One hit a button on his wrist and the alarms sounded.

“Oh, fuck.”

“What the hell did you do, Karter?” Charlie growled into the coms as I shot the two Thearns and began sprinting towards the wall. “You shitty fuckup.”

“Charlie, shut up,” Zion said. “Emic, what’s your status?”

There was a pause and for a moment I thought that Emic wasn’t going to answer, that he _couldn’t_ answer. “Mmm, I need another minute. If you could get me that, I should get out of here no problem.”

“How’s it looking for you, Karter?”

“I got the bombs placed, but these guys are coming out of everywhere.” I could barely risk staying still long enough to fire my blaster there were so many Thearns firing at me at once. I kept running, trying to find some way to get out of their sight long enough to get up and over the wall without being shot. “They’re not letting up enough for me to get over the wall.”

A Thearn came out from behind a pillar in front of me, raising its weapon as it did to fire directly at my chest. There was nowhere to go. I was going to die. Still, I started to raise my own blaster, even though I knew it was hopeless. I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable shot to rip through me.

It never did.

“Keep moving, dumbass,” Charlie said.

When I opened my eyes, the Thearn was on the ground, a large hole in his chest. “Oh, shit.”

“Fuckin’ run,” the teen repeated impatiently. Another sniper blast struck somewhere behind me. I didn’t stick around to see if he had hit the target or not.

The Thearns lagged a little farther behind me now, searching out where the sniper was, giving me more than enough space to be able to escape.

“Okay, I’m on my way out now,” Emic said. “What about you guys?”

“I’m going over the wall now,” Zion said.

“Dipshit’s good to go over to. Hurry up.”

“What about you?” I asked as I made my run up the wall. I paused at the top to scan for where Charlie was. A plasma blast striking centimeters from my fingers encouraged me to keep moving. “Where are you anyway?”

“Don’t worry about it, fucker.”

I dropped down outside the wall and started jogging towards the ship. “The name calling isn’t appreciated.”

“Neither is having to cover your stupid ass but we all do shit we don’t want. For the _team,_ remember?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Charlie secretly cares (i guess)
> 
> Tumblr: jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: jacksonofabitch


	49. The Sass Is Real

I reached the ship just as the counter on my visor hit zero. The ground shook as the bombs went off at once and a thick pillar of smoke billowed up behind me. “Charlie?”

“I didn’t die.”

“Oh, poo.”

“Fuck off. You’d be dead in a heartbeat if I wasn’t around, shithead.”

“So glad you two are getting along great now,” Zion said, approaching me from behind. “Let’s get out here. Charlie, what’s your eta?”

“Five fucking seconds.” The other human came rushing out of the bushes, sniper rifle flung over his shoulder. “Fuckin’ impatient.” Charlie strode past us and into the ship. “We should get out of here before they come lookin’ for us.”

Zion nodded. “Yeah. Emic’s already on board. Time to go.”

We made our way back to the rebel base after a few detours to ensure that the Thearns weren’t tracking us. Chella was there to greet us when we entered the control center to deliver the information Emic had stolen. “Well done, DayBreak. Not bad for a first mission.”

“Would have been fine if dipshit hadn’t fucked it up in the end.”

“Yet you all made it out and the mission was completed,” Chella said serenely. “That is successful enough. Few missions go according to plan. Appreciate the ones that do not end badly.”

Charlie crossed his arms, glaring at some point across the room. “It _was_ my fault though," I said. "I should have been paying more attention. It could have gone much worse.”

Chella observed me for a moment before nodding slowly. “You will be better next time. For now, let us have a look at what has been collected for the cause.”

 

“It shouldn’t be too hard. You just have to get on board the freighter before it takes off and stay hidden until it’s docked with the space hub,” Tarnic explained, pointing at the schematics being displayed. “As long as you stay tucked into here, you should be perfectly fine.”

“If we’re not?” I asked.

“Then you’ll get very tan very quickly,” Dianth said.

“Just be sure to stay in place,” Tarnic suggested. “Let’s not test how durable those suits of yours are.” He turned back to the display. “Once you get aboard, Emic will patch us into the onboard security system and we can guide you through the ship to carry out the mission. Everyone understand?”

“I still don’t like that I’m not going,” Charlie said.

Zion shook his head. “We need you in the DayBreak to come get us if something goes wrong.”

“Not like I can do anything without the dumbass running the guns,” the teen grumbled, shooting a glare at me like it was my fault. “Why doesn’t he stay behind as well?”

“Because it was decided that he would go,” Dianth snapped. “If you’re so worried about your friend, then I would suggest playing your own role as best you can.”

Charlie rolled his eyes, physically turning away from the table as much as he could in his chair. “Not my fuckin’ friend. Hate that stupid fucker.”

As had become customary in the week we had spent here, everyone ignored him and moved on. “Any more questions about the plan?” Tarnic asked. We shook our heads. “Alright, then I think we’re done for now. We’ll be leaving in four hours to get into position, so be ready and on your ship by the then.”

“You nervous?” Emic asked as we walked out of the control center. “This is really risky. There’s so much that could go wrong.”

I bumped his shoulder, smiling as encouragingly as I could. “Hey, relax. We’re gonna do fine. They know what they’re doing. The plan is solid.”

“But what if I mess up? Last time, all I had to do was make a copy of the information on the main computer and _that_ took me forever. This time it’s so much more complicated and if we don’t get the timing right everything will be screwed up. Or if I press the wrong thing, I could end up getting us caught or—”

“Hey, hey, Emic, calm down. Breathe.” I pulled him down a side hallway, away from the others. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to do great.”

He pulled away from me, staring at the ground. “That’s what I thought before my _first_ mission. And you know how that worked out.”

“But if you hadn’t messed up then, you wouldn’t have met us.” He glanced up, eyes watery. “We’re going to be with you this time. It’s nothing like your first mission. Besides, if anyone’s going to mess up, it’ll probably be me,” I added with a laugh.

Emic gave me a weak smile. “You won’t mess up. Fucker.”

“Wow.” I put a hand to my chest in fake shock. “I can’t believe that you, my greatest space friend, would betray me like this. Never have I experienced such betrayal. How can I go on with my life now?”

“You’re such a dork,” Emic laughed, pushing me lightly. “C’mon, let’s go get some food. Can’t go fighting evil on an empty stomach.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I missed Charlie so much, I'm about to cry lol Anyways~~ Time for Spring Break and I am going to be posting every day until I go back to school. Super excited~~
> 
> As always, come talk (or complain) with me
> 
> Instagram: jacksonofabitch  
> Tumblr: jacksonofab1tch


	50. Everything Goes Right Until It Doesn't

Everything was going smoothly. We had landed on the Thearn occupied planet with ease. We had managed to sneak into the base and get aboard the transport ship all without being spotted. While it was _definitely_ very warm on the way over, as well as very crowded, Emic, Zion, and I all managed to stay in the safe zone and not be fried to a crisp.

Once we got on board, things were a little more intense and I was on high alert the entire time, super aware of my surroundings for fear of a repeat of our last mission. Emic sped through getting into the security system and soon we were spreading out to different points on the space station.

“Take a left up here,” Tarnic’s voice said in my ear. “It’s the second door on the right.”

I followed his directions and entered the engine room. It was stuffy and warm, machines hissing softly as I walked past them. “Alright, where I am going now?”

“Keep walking. There should be a large control panel at the other end of the room.” I kept going, keeping an ear out for the sound of the door opening in case someone came in behind me. “Alright,” Tarnic said once I reached it, “now what you have to do is manually reroute power from the security system to the scanners. Open the hatch at the bottom.”

I did as he said, revealing a tangled mess of wires. “Yikes.”

“This is where it gets tricky. You need to pull out the wire for communications. It should be the purple one.” I looked around for it, but discovered a problem immediately.

“There’s two of them. Which one do I pull?”

“Hang on.” I could hear Tarnic muttering to himself as he searched through the information Emic had stolen. “Both.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Make sure it’s at the same time though.”

I gripped both the wires in my hand. “What if it’s not at the same time?”

“Then, uh, I don’t know. Just pull them at the same time.”

Taking a deep breath, I jerked the wires out of the sockets they were plugged into. “Okay. What’s next?” A beeping from above on the console distracted me. “Something’s beeping.”

“It’s just an alarm, don’t worry. Nothing should be going outside of the room. Find a red wire. You’re going to plug that into where the communication wire was.”

I found it quickly. “Which one though?”

“The left- no the right one.” He swore quietly under his breath. “There aren’t two red wires are there by any chance?”

“Mmm, no.”

“Fuck. Okay, just plug the red wire into the right slot. Now you need to reset the system. There should be a large lever on the wall to your right.” I walked over to it. “You need to pull it down for three seconds, let it up for four, pull it back down for sixteen, and then let it go.”

“That is very weird.”

“Just do it. I’ll count.”

I did as he said, silently counting along with him. The machines around me stopped for a moment before continuing on like before. “All good?”

“Yeah. Let’s get you to the exit point now.” I turned towards the door, wanting to get off the ship as soon as possible. “Get down!”

Automatically, I ducked behind a steaming machine just as the door opened. I crouched lower, carefully moving to a position where I could shoot if I had to.

“There’s a Thearn in the room. I don’t think he knows you’re here. He might just be doing maintenance. Stay down.”

I could hear the Thearn moving around the room. For several long seconds, I didn’t dare to breathe, praying that it would hurry up and leave already. He walked past me in a rush, not looking in any direction but forward.

“Shit, Karter. Karter, he’s going to the control panel. Karter, _did you shut it?”_

My heart stuttered in my chest as I wracked my brains back to remember if I had. “Shit,” I said softly, standing up swiftly and firing at the Thearns back. It hit him directly and he dropped fast. “Oh, shit, what do I do, Tarnic?”

“Take a left out the door. Hurry.”

I ran out, barely remembering to be careful and to make as little noise as possible. He guided me through the confusing hallways, making me pause occasionally to let Thearns pass. I had turned down the hallway where the exit point was when the alarms started ringing.

“Karter, get out down there now!” Tarnic half-shouted into the comms and I took off running. The door to the exit point opened as I approached, Emic and Zion anxiously waiting for me inside the narrow, circular tube of a room.

Darting in, the door shut behind us again. “Alright, Chella, we’re all here,” Zion said. There was a loud whirring all around us. I could still hear the sound of the alarms going on outside, and I prayed that we wouldn’t be found before we could get out.

And then the floor dropped out beneath us and we were shot into space. 


	51. Consequences

In the end, the mission was a total failure. The Thearns were aware of what we were trying to do long before we got the chance to use it. The information we’d gone through the effort of stealing was changed, leaving what we had out of date. The monitoring program that would have allowed us to spy on them through their systems was rooted out before it could even be activated.

The next day the outer part of the rebel base was bombed heavily, destroying all of the rebel’s ships and sealing off the tunnels that had led up to the airfield. The DayBreak was the only ship that had remained untouched, sitting amongst the broken and charred destruction exactly where we had left it, a very stressed Izar waiting for us inside.

“I’ve brought you all here to decide on what we are going to do,” Dianth said, a few days after the bombing. “We’ve salvaged what we can from the wreckage, but there is little that we can with what we have now. The only ship I’m willing to put into combat that we have now is the DayBreak, and I can’t allow a single ship to go in alone.”

“What are the orders from high command?” Chella asked.

She sighed, rubbing a hand down her worn face. “We have two options: find some ships and continue the fight, or surrender the system and be reassigned to another base.”

Tarnic burst up from his chair, offended at the thought of giving up. “We can’t just _leave._ We’ve been here for a decade fighting for this stupid planet. If they would send us the supplies and soldiers that we actually needed we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Chella raised a hand, calming him. “Few rebel posts have what they need. Calath was kind enough to send us the DayBreak, but that was all he could spare.”

“What? _They_ were his last-ditch effort at keeping this planet?” One of the rebels I hadn’t had the chance to meet yet said. “A bunch of stupid rookies with no experience? Some effort.”

“Why don’t you shut the fuck up?” Charlie growled. “We did—” Zion pulled him back into his seat, shooting him a warning look. “We did what we were supposed to.”

“The DayBreak was more of a chance than we should have been given,” Dianth said decidedly. “We’ve been losing ground to the Thearns since the day they decided they were taking this planet. Unless anyone has any grand idea to save it, we’ll be abandoning the post in a week from now. If you wish to leave earlier or have a desire to go somewhere specific, please inform Chella.” She rose slowly, her shoulders weighted down the events of the past few days. Burdened, she left the room, shoulders squared, but head hung low in defeat.

One by one and then in smaller groups, the rest of the rebels quietly left the room, a hushed murmur barely being passed from one another as they began to discuss the uncertain future.

“Fuckin’ great,” Charlie growled as he stood up, kicking his chair back. He stalked out of the room, rudely cutting between people. Izar and Zion watched with a tired sigh before they got up as well. Emic glanced at me, worried before trotting to catch up to them.

“Where would we go to get more ships?” I asked Chella after the room had nearly completely emptied. Milo had remained behind, looking over some of the general intel that had been gathered on the Thearns for anything that would be useful for us to learn. “If there is somewhere, I mean.”

He closed his eyes thinking. “There is planet Sulik who has remained mostly untouched by the Thearns. They are well armed and well supplied. But they are a proud people and they do not wish to ally themselves with people such as us if they feel they do not have to.”

“Has anyone tried to get them to?”

“Many times. The queen rarely sees any emissary we send and even then, she is unlikely to listen for long before she sends them away again.” He smiled, reaching over to pat my shoulder. “You will be as unlikely to convince her as any other who has tried before you. You have heart, but there is a time to admit where your skills fall short.”

 

The rooms where the few ships the rebels had left were stored were cavernous and long. And very empty. I walked through them, searching for a familiar face, but finding few faces in general. Some of the rebels smiled and waved as I walked past before returning to whatever they were doing, while others glared and muttered curses under their breath, looking my suit up and down with disgust.

Finally, I found Tarnic as he worked on repairing an engine for an extremely unsafe looking ship. “Hey, Karter, what’s going on?”

“Nothing. I was just having a look around. We’re still waiting on orders for where we’re going after this.” Tarnic hummed, leaning against the ship. “I’m sorry we couldn’t do more. It feels like we just got here and now we’re being forced out.”

“I’ve been here for ages. It was the second rebel post I was assigned to. I’m gonna miss this place. It feels like home.”

That was something I could definitely agree with. “Um, this might sound like a bit of a weird question, but that little ship there, does it work?” I asked, pointing at a ship off to the side, the only one that no one was working on.

“The planet jumper? It works, but it’s not good for much. No guns and it can’t get too far into space on its own. We mostly just used it for flying practice for the new recruits. Not that we got a whole lot of those. Thearn sensors have a tough time picking up on it.” He sighed. “We’re leaving it behind. Gonna miss that thing too. Why?”

“Curiosity, that’s all. I’ll see you around.” He stared after me as I began to make my way back to the main part of the facility. As I did, I silently went through my checklist: ship, done; planet info, done; permission… I sighed, still unsure how I was going to broach the subject with Zion.

In the two days that the rebel base had slowly begun tearing itself down, I had come up with a plan to try and save it. There wasn’t much in the database about Sulik, certainly not anything that would really help me. There was no reason to believe that I had any better of a chance of succeeding, just like Chella had said. But I couldn’t stay here and do nothing.

I had to try, even if it killed me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karter, you dramatic dumbass.
> 
> Come complain to me!  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	52. Division

“What are you doing, Karter?” Milo said, poking his head above my shoulder to look at what I was reading. I jerked, nearly spilling my tea everywhere. “Sulik? You’re not thinking of going by for a visit, are you?”

“I, um.” _Now’s the chance!_ “Well, actually, yeah, kinda. I noticed that there happened to be a small ship that the rebels weren’t using and it’s just enough to get me there, so I thought that maybe I would… give it a try?”

Milo sighed, sitting down in the chair next to mine. “Karter, I may not have ever met a Sulikie, but I have heard much about them. They are not people who are going to bend. Not for a thousand soldiers and not for one.”

I set my tablet down on the table, looking at it sullenly. “I guess there really isn’t much point. I just wish I could _do_ something. I hate that I keep messing things up and now the whole post is being abandoned. And I know it’s not completely my fault,” I said before he could voice his protests, “but it feels that way. I just want to make some contribution.”

“You will, my boy. Don’t worry. One day, I believe you will be the finest hero the universe has ever seen.”

“I wouldn’t go filling his head up too much. He has enough fuckin’ trouble hiding it already apparently.” Charlie and the other DayBreak members approached the table. “Figures you’d be lazing about.”

“Charlie, lay off for him,” Emic said, collapsing into a chair across from me. “I’m too tired to listen to you whine.”

“Of course, you are. You’ve actually been doing shit. But _he_ hasn’t.” Charlie fixed me a harsh glare, sneer marring his face. “He can’t carry out the simplest things and now that he’s fucked everything up he’s just sitting here have a God damn drink like he’s on vacation or some shit.”

Zion shot him a look. “Charlie, stop. Karter’s been doing his best.”

“Well, his best isn’t fuckin’ good enough!” Charlie roared. “We all have to work our asses off to make sure _we_ don’t die, but then we also have to fuckin’ cover for this dumbass because he can’t even begin to keep up with the rest of us? He’s doesn’t belong on this team and the sooner you all admit it and get rid of him, the better it will be. For everyone.”

“Charlie, that’s out of line,” Milo started to say more, but he fell silent when I stood up.

I couldn’t raise my head to look at Charlie or any of the others. I could barely breathe as my limited vision blurred. My hands were fisted at my sides, shaking ever so slightly. “You think I don’t know that already?” I rasped out. “You think I don’t _know_ that I’m not good enough? That I don’t belong here?” There was no answer. “I do know. I know I’m not a genius or a good fighter. I know I can’t do much to help. I’ve known all that since the beginning, but I still tried because there was nothing else for me _to_ do.”

There was a moment of silence as I tried to calm my breathing. “Karter…” Zion began.

At the sound of his voice, I jumped, suddenly realizing everything that had just happened. “Ah, uh,” was all I could manage to come out. In a rush, I grabbed the tablet and booked it out of there, not stopping until I couldn’t hear their voices calling me back.

I didn’t go back to the ship that night.

Instead, I hid in the less populated parts of the base, avoiding everyone and reading the information on the Sulik over and over again, trying to get Charlie’s words out of my head. It didn’t work as well I hoped, but now I could practically recite the information word for word.

Once the base had truly settled down for the night, I made my way to the ship bay, ears and eyes sharp for signs of life. Opening the bay door had my heart racing in terror, sure that someone would hear the thunderous sound. No one did, and I quickly made my way to the small ship, climbing into the small cockpit.

“Going somewhere?”

My foot slipped off the wing and I caught myself painfully on the side of the ship. I whipped around to look at Milo as he emerged from the shadows. “I have to go, Milo.”

“There is no point in risking your life for something as useless as pride.”

“It’s not my pride that I’m going for. I mean, that’s part of it, but that’s not all.” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “I’m not doing this to prove to everyone that I can, to prove to Charlie that I’m not some useless fuck up like he thinks I am. I need to do this to say that I _did_ try. I’m doing this for me.”

“Not for the cause?” Milo asked, bemused.

“I—That’s not—”

Milo held up his hand, a soft smile on his lips. “It’s fine, Karter. Any reason to fight for the side of the good is enough.” He glanced back towards the door. “You should leave now. I will explain your absence to the others.”

“Thank you.”

The gold alien stepped forward, handing me a small device. “A long-distance communicator. Contact us if anything goes wrong. Please be safe.”

I took it, climbing into the cockpit and settling in. “I will. Don’t worry. Next time you see me, it’ll be with a Sulikie army.”

“Let us hope.”

I started up the engines, letting the clear dome fall down to cover the cockpit. Milo stepped back clearing the way for me. He lifted a hand in farewell as I slowly lifted from the ground, and then I was speeding out of the doors and away from the planet.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karter you fuck, you're gonna die
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	53. Arrival At Sulike

The planet jumper really wasn’t all that complicated to fly and, like Tarnic had said, the Thearns had a lot of trouble picking it up on their sensors so leaving the planet wasn’t too much trouble. Flying was actually kind of nice when you weren’t being pressured by impending doom or the fact that it was an ancient living ship and you had no idea what any of the buttons were supposed to do.

I leaned back in the cockpit of the ship, staring out at the distant stars as I hurtled away from the rebel planet and the only people I knew. The navigation computer beeped slowly, my route already programmed in and autopilot kicking in once I had left the atmosphere. Next to it showed how long I had left to travel and how much fuel I had left. It would barely be enough to get me to Sulik.

_Hopefully, I’ll make it._

With a couple hours to go, I pulled out the tablet and started reading about the other allies that had joined the rebellion, specifically about _how_ those alliances came to be. I needed to go in there with a plan, and my experience as an interstellar diplomat was a little lacking.

A few hours later and my legs were cramping up and the words before me were blurring on the screen. I certainly didn’t feel any more prepared than I had when I left. A beep from the computer made me look up to realize that a small blue planet was looming ahead of me. A second beep told that the planet was contacting me. I rushed to press the answering button.

“Identify yourself.” 

 _Oh God here I go,_ I thought. “Hello. My name is Karter. I’m from the rebel base on Dalrai. I was hoping I could speak to your leader about forming an alliance against the Thearns.” 

“We do not wish to form an alliance. Please turn back.” 

I glanced down at the fuel gauge which was dangerously low. “Uh, I’m sorry, but would it be possible for me to land and refuel? I won’t be able to make the journey back.” 

“Then why did you come if your ship could not go back?”

I hesitated. “I, um, didn’t have much of a choice. It was the only one person ship we had.” 

There was a long pause. I looked at the fuel gauge again, which had now turned red and was blinking. “You will be allowed to land. You should receive the coordinates now.” The console beeped as the transmission came through. 

I sighed in relief, already turning the ship to go down to the planet’s surface. “Thank you.” 

I landed with only a bit of turbulence on the landing pad. A giant, heavily muscled alien wearing a very neat military-style uniform approached the ship as I climbed out, followed by a shorter one dressed in rougher clothing. “Greetings rebel.”

“Uh, hi. I’m Karter.” 

The shorter alien walked past me with only a nod, attending to the ship. He was still about half a foot taller than me. The taller alien, however, was closer to seven feet high, forcing me to crane my neck back to look at him. The Sulikies were pale blue in color, but very similar to humans in shape, though not so much in size. Their noses were flatter and instead of hair, they had solid looking ridges of a darker blue that varied in size and number from person to person. Their eyes were gem-bright, coming in a seemingly endless range of colors. 

“My name is Masl. I am head of planetary security.” 

I recognized his voice as the one I had spoken to. “Ah thank you very much for allowing me to land. I’m not sure what I would have done if you’d said no.” I scratched the back of my neck, suddenly feeling stupid. I shouldn’t have let him know I didn’t have a backup plan. I needed to present the rebellion in as best a light as I could manage. 

“We may not wish to be involved with the rebellion, but we are not a cruel people.” There was a sternness in his voice that made me think he was a little offended. 

“Of course not! That’s why I took this ship even though I knew I’d run out of fuel.” He gave me an odd look. “Uh, I read about your culture. I mean, there wasn’t much, but it was really interesting and there was a lot about how courteous you were, especially to guests. So, I figured that you wouldn’t at least turn me away immediately...” I trailed off, realizing I’d been babbling. 

Masl looked down at me, face expressionless but there was something calculating in his eyes. “You seem honest and brave, little one.”

 _Little one,_ I thought, thinking back to the constant stream of bitter comments I had gotten from Knox when I had finally outgrown him. _Wonder what he’d say about these guys._ “Thank you. I’m just trying to do my part for the rebellion. I haven’t been all that useful so far, which is why I’m here even though everyone said it was pointless.”

The Sulik cocked his head to the side, contemplating. “Why did you decide to fight? Why not stay neutral if you are not able to fight alongside the others?”

“Well, I don’t really have much of a choice. My planet got taken by the Thearns. We weren’t even sure aliens even _existed_ before then and now I’m farther away from home than I thought possible.” My voice tightened up a little at the end, the thoughts of what had happened to my family after I’d been taken still too painful to touch. “But then a little group of us escaped the Thearns and now I’m part of this magic ship crew, where everyone’s great at what they’re supposed to do. Except me.”

“Perhaps you are too hard on yourself. I don’t see any of them trying something impossible.” Masl chuckled when I looked up at him hopefully. “I can make no promises, but it seems you have an interesting tale to tell. I’m sure that Her Majesty would at least be interested in hearing it, though unlikely is she to act.”

My heart swelled at the thought. _Maybe this isn’t a complete bust after all._ “I would greatly appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.”

Masl patted my shoulder, nearly causing my knees to buckle with his strength. “I shall make arrangements for you to stay in the palace for tonight. For now, please stay here until I send for you. I must petition the queen for your meeting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well he's not dead yet so theres something. Also typing with a dog on your lap is really hard?? Shes cute tho so ill let her stay... for now
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	54. Sulik

It was less than an hour later that I was escorted to through the base to a small, car-like hover vehicle. Inside were two wide benches covered in plush red fabric. There was no driver that I could see, inside or out. The young captain who had been charged as being my guide sat opposite of me, watching me with a mixture of caution and curiosity. After a few long moments of awkward silence, I spoke up. “So, uh, what’s your name? I’m Karter.”

He stared at me blankly long enough for me to wonder if he was even allowed to answer. “Tren.”

“Cool. Do you do this sort of thing often?”

“No.” There was a pause and I was ready to give up on this whole conversation. “We have very few visitors. You are the first outsider that we have had in many months.”

 _That explains the staring at least._ “Oh. That’s cool.”

“Sorry, but why do you keep referring to the temperature? Are you cold? Do you require a warmer climate?” Tren started to turn towards the control panel next to the door.

“Ah, no, no, it’s fine. It’s fine.” I waved my hands anxiously, causing him to pause. “It’s just an Earth expression. The temperature is fine.”

He slowly leaned back into his seat. “If you are sure.” The ride continued on in silence with Tren watching me for any sign of discomfort while I pretended his staring wasn’t causing me discomfort. “You are part of the rebel forces, yes?”

“Yeah. Do you, uh, know a lot about the rebels?”

“I have heard some. Many of your emissaries have come to petition Her Majesty before you. I was able to briefly meet the last one. He was a gifted warrior, but he lacked somewhat in the skills of diplomacy.”

“Lacked?”

“We here on Sulik value our combat skills above all else. Politeness and courtesy are essential in keeping the peace. Those who fail to do so are not welcome.”

It took me a second to realize what he was getting at. _I can never let Charlie anywhere near these guys._ “Well, my mom did always call me the polite child, so I should be okay.”

Tren tilted his head to the side. “Are you nervous?”

“What do I have to be nervous about? I’m just going to talk to an Empress of a planet that I never heard of until a couple days ago to attempt to create an alliance that people way more qualified than me have failed to do, and then when I go back to the team, they’re all going to yell at me for disappearing on them without even bothering to leave a note.” I stopped, realizing I had been ranting. “Sorry.”

“It is not so bad to be nervous, so long as you are strong enough to overcome them when the moment comes.” Tren offered a reassuring smile before turning to look out the window as the vehicle came to a halt. “We are here.”

I followed the tall Sulik out, looking around in wonder at the magnificent building before us. Elegant arches and colored glass windows seemed to make up the main mass of it while golden spires rose up to touch the clouds, gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight. It looked like something straight out of a fairytale, complete with magical gardens all around. “Wow.”

“It is very beautiful.” Tren gave me another moment to stare at it before walking towards the front door. I had to jog to catch up to him, still staring at the work of art they called a palace. “It is always an amazing site, to see the Great Palace of Tarek, though I personally prefer the simpler palace in Suli.”

“Suli was the previous capital, right?” I asked, remembering the name from what I had read. “Before all the factions united and chose to create the capital. Which is here.”

Tren smiled over his shoulder at me, pleasantly surprised. “Yes, it was. Our history was not always a glorious one, but our future looks ever brighter.”

The doors of the palace opened before us, showing the large glittering hall within. Skylights high above let in natural light which then reflected off a multitude of polished gems embedded in the walls, filling the room with light. Another quiet “wow” escaped me as I looked around. The few Sulik in the hall turned to look at us, staring when they saw me.

Unaware of their stares, or choosing to ignore them, Tren continued walking forward, leading me down the long hall before turning off into a smaller corridor. This one was little by the same gems of the main hall, yet instead of reflecting light, they gave off light in a myriad of colors. Tren led the way through several twists and turns and up several flights of stairs. Belatedly, I realized I should have been keeping track of our path, so I wouldn’t get lost later, but now it was hopeless.

“Here we are, the Ambassador’s Suite.” Tren opened the door, gesturing for me to go through.

The room beyond was as elegant and beautiful as I had come to expect. The main room was a comfortable lounge area, complete with balcony overlooking what I believed was the back garden of the palace and several comfortable looking couches. A door off to the right led to the bedroom with one of the largest beds I had ever seen. I caught a glimpse of the bathroom, which was nearly as big as the bedroom itself, through the doorway.

“This is amazing. Are you sure _I_ get to stay here? This is, like, ridiculously fancy.”

Tren smiled, chuckling quietly. “Well, you are a very important diplomat, after all. It would not do for us to treat you rudely when you have come all this way.”

“Oh, yeah. Right.” I straightened my shoulders, remembering that I wasn’t just some kid from Earth and that I was representing the entirety of the Rebellion. “Of course.”

The Sulik chuckled again. “I will leave you to settle in. You are free to explore the palace and the grounds, but if you should wish to go into the city, I request that you allow me to escort you. There is a communicator on the table that is directly connected to mine. I will return tomorrow morning to debrief you on the procedure for meeting Her Majesty.” He gave a small bow. “It was a pleasure speaking to you, Karter of Earth.”

“It was nice to meet you, too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The door shut behind him and I collapsed onto a couch, sinking into the soft surface. _What have I managed to get myself into?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you ever like, accidentally think of a ship and then it just won't leave you alone?? That's me rn except that it's a very bad idea to ship it. I told myself I wasn't going to fuckin do this to myself... Gonna go throw myself into a river bye
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonoabitch


	55. The Team Finds Out

_Meanwhile on Dalrai_

Emic caught up with Zion and Charlie as they were helping load supplies onto one of the cargo ships. “Hey, Zion, you didn’t see Karter this morning, did you?”

Zion paused in lifting a box up to Charlie. “No. He wasn’t with you?”

The pink alien shook his head. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday.” Both fought the urge to look over at Charlie. “It’s not like him to run off like this.”

“Who the fuck cares? He’s probably just trying to get out of doing any work,” Charlie snapped, grabbing the box from Zion’s hands and slamming it down in the cargo hold. “He’s just being a whiny baby like usual.”

“Shut up,” Emic growled, glaring up at the teen with all the ferocity he could muster. “If anyone here is a whiny baby, it’s you. All you do is complain and shout. At least Karter put an effort into making the teamwork. Unlike a stupid shit like you who just causes problems.”

“Emic, Charlie, that’s enough. No more fighting.” Zion tried to step between the two of them but was stopped by Charlie jumping down from the ship.

The Kaithian refused to step back even as Charlie loomed over him. “The fuck did call me?” he asked in a low voice. “What? You think you can take me?”

“I know I can. Apologize to Karter.”

“Why should I?”

“Because I’ll fucking chuck you out of an airlock if you don’t.”

“Guys—”

“Pretty brave words for a little kitty. ‘Cept I don’t exactly see Karter waiting around.” Charlie smirked. “Oh yeah, it’s ‘cuz he’s a hiding like the fuckin’ wimp he is.”

“Actually, I imagine that it is because he is not currently on the planet, but if you so desire to continue to let your anger rule you, then it cannot be helped.” All three of them whipped around to look at Milo, who smiled at them calmly. “Judging by your silence, I am guessing you are done shouting.”

Zion ignored the not so subtle jab. “What do you mean, Karter isn’t on the planet? Where is he?”

“Well, I imagine he’s just about reached Sulik by now if he hasn’t already.” He checked a round device. “Ah, I should have told him to contact me when he got there. Oh, well.” The Lacarean shrugged and began walking away.

“Wait!” Emic said, chasing after him. “That’s it? He’s just gone to some planet? You’re not going to tell us why or anything?”

Milo looked down at him, expression softening at the plain concern written all over Emic’s face. “I’m afraid that is something you’ll have to discuss personally with Karter upon his return. It is not my secret to share.”

“Yeah, right,” Charlie scoffed, as he stalked past, throwing his words carelessly over his shoulder. “He was too scared to come back so he ran the fuck away. He’s not coming back.”

“It doesn’t matter if he plans to return or not.” Charlie paused at Zion’s commanding tone. “We’re going to get him. You three get the ship ready for departure. I will inform Dianth.”

The golden Lacarean stepped in front of him, waving his hands desperately. “That’s really not necessary. I’m sure Karter can handle himself and he’ll be back soon. Let’s give him the chance to try, yes?”

“No.” Zion stared down at him, face completely blank. “Without Karter, we have no one to run the guns on the ship. If we are attacked now, we are helpless to help anyone. This was a reckless decision and you should have done more to stop him. We are getting him. Understand?” He didn’t bother to wait for an answer before heading out of the door.

“I should have spoken to Dianth first. I did not expect this reaction,” Milo muttered to himself. He checked his device again. “Oh, goodness, I hope he at least manages to accomplish something.”

Charlie huffed a quiet laugh. “That idiot? What could he possibly be doing?”

 

_What am I even doing?_

The thought had rattled around my head until I couldn’t take being in the extravagant suite any longer. Unfortunately, even the extensive alien gardens couldn’t drive it out of my brain. I sighed, turning a corner and coming to a small courtyard with delicately carved benches in each corner. I walked into the middle, contemplating if I should keep walking to try and burn off my excess energy until I just passed out. _I mean, it’d stop me from worrying so much._

My hand brushed over the staff tucked into my belt. _That’ll do,_ I thought, pulling it out. I took a quick glance around the immediate area to make sure no one was there before activating it. I moved through the warm-up Milo had developed for me before working on the harder movements I still struggled with.

I was so caught up in my training that I didn’t notice the Sulikie watching me from one of the paths leading to the open space. I didn’t even notice him coming closer until I spun around, the staff picking something metal with a ringing sound.

“You’re not bad, little rebel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, who's this asshole?? Sorry today's chapter is out a little later, but tomorrow's will probs be just as late (as I still have to write it hahhahaha) 
> 
> Also, I have yet to include any actual description of the Suliks?? Not sure how I got away with that, but I'm going to go back to chapter 53 and add it in there written nicely, and the probably put the gist of it in the note at the beginning of the next chapter just so you know
> 
> Contact me:  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	56. Karter Gets Taught a Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Karter is gonna fight someone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I added the description of the Suliks like I said I would. Here it is if you don't want to go back to 53:
> 
> The Suliks were pale blue in color, but very similar to humans in shape, though not so much in size. Their noses were flatter and instead of hair, they had solid looking ridges of a darker blue that varied in size and number from person to person. Their eyes were gem-bright, coming in a seemingly endless range of colors.

I stood there, frozen, staring at the spear that had met the staff. Slowly, my gaze moved down to the hands that held it and traveled up the arms, finally finding the face of the tall Sulikie and his bright green eyes. “Uh, thanks?”

The alien smiled, lowering his spear and taking a step back. “Your posture is too stiff though. You would be much more effective if you relaxed more and let the movements flow through you.”

“Oh. Right.” The staff suddenly snapped closed, surprising a squeak from me as it fell from my hands. My face heated up as I quickly ducked down to grab it. “Um, hi. I’m Karter,” I fumbled out when I straightened back up.

“My name is Jido. May I ask why you chose this spot to train?”

 _Oh, God, did I fuck up already?_ “I was just, um, walking and I kinda stumbled across it and thought it might be a nice place?” My voice rose as I spoke. “Am- am I not allowed to?”

Jido laughed loudly, leaning on his spear as he did. “Why are you so nervous? There is nothing to fear here.” He calmed himself some. “I was simply curious. I often come here to train as well when I don’t wish to be disturbed.”

“Oh. Should I go then?”

The Sulikie shook his head. “No, no. Please stay. I do not wish to disturb your training. If you are not against it, I could spar with you. I have helped train many of our young warriors. I would be happy to help you.”

“That’d be great actually!” He blinked at my quick response. “I mean, there’s no one to really teach me how to fight with this on the team, so I’ve mostly been reading about the techniques and trying to learn them that way, but it isn’t easy. Having an actual expert would be really helpful.”

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled widely. “I would be honored to teach you. Although, I have never seen a weapon such as yours. May I see it?”

I held out the folded staff. “It’s a Lacarean Shifting Staff. I’m still not really sure how it works, but…” I trailed off, noticing how wide Jido’s eyes had gotten as he stared down at the staff. “Jido?”

“I never thought I would see such a weapon…” he whispered in an awed voice. He extended his hand forward cautiously, “May I…?”

“Yeah, sure. I don’t know if it’ll open for you or not. It took me a while to get the hang of it.”

The Sulikie carefully lifted it from the palm of my hand, observing it carefully. “I have heard many stories about the warriors who wielded such staffs. There are many fighting styles here on Sulik based on the greatest of those. I thought they had all vanished from the world.” Jido closed his fist around it, eyes shutting in concentration.

The staff didn’t react.

“Ah, I guess it is not for me.” He handed the staff back to me. “I look forward to hearing the stories that shall come of your future deeds.” Jido chuckled as my cheeks flushed. “But first, you must learn to wield it properly. Come and take your stance. Let us begin.”

To my relief, the staff opened easily and I stepped back, taking up starting posture I had grown accustomed to taking when training. Jido scanned over me critically, before approaching. “Move your feet apart a little more and point your toes out a little more. Bend your knees a little more.” He gently guided my hands farther apart on the staff and adjusted the position of my elbows. “There, that should suit you better. What you were doing before was good, especially for having very little to emulate.”

I nodded, focusing on remembering how this stance felt. It was different and little more difficult to hold, but that was likely because I was used to what I had been doing. “Okay.”

Jido stepped back, looking over my posture again before nodding. “Alright, now try to hit me.”

“What?”

“Hit me.”

“What if I hurt you?”

He huffed a small laugh. “Karter, I am a Daulian, a royal guard. I am charged with the safety of Prince Koa, heir to the throne. There is no a warrior better than me on Sulik. It would be a most fantastic circumstance if you do succeed in striking me.”

“Oh. That’s… really impressive.” _Oh, God, I’m just going to embarrass myself._ “Good to know I couldn’t find a better teacher on the _entire_ planet.”

Jido chuckled again. “Shall we begin now?”

Instead of answering, I darted forward, swinging the staff low, aiming for his left leg. His spear moved faster than I could see, catching my staff before it could come close to hitting him. With the same ease, he flipped it up, the butt of the spear tapping my left hip. It didn’t hurt, but I still jumped back in surprise.

“You focus too much on attacking that you leave yourself open for a counterattack,” Jido commented. “Striking your opponent once means little if they are able to disable you at the same time.”

“The best offense is a good defense,” I said. Knox had practically drilled the idea into me when he tried to teach me chess. I never got the hang of the game, but I remembered that.

Jido nodded, smiling. “That is a good way to say it. I like it.”

“It’s a common expression back on Earth,” I said, moving back to the starting position, taking a second to double check that I was doing it right. I scanned over Jido’s own stance. He was standing there, completely relaxed, spear held loosely in one hand, the golden spearhead pointing down towards the ground. _Guess you can get away with that when you’re the best. He’s fast too…_

Keeping that in mind, I moved forward again, aiming higher this time. As soon as I felt the staff hit something solid, I stepped to the side, expecting Jido to strike in a similar manner as he had before. Except that he didn’t and instead of evading his spear, I stepped right into it, resulting in a slightly harder hit than he probably intended. It still didn’t hurt terribly.

“A good attempt, but you cannot move thoughtlessly. You must be aware of every movement your opponent makes. That will help you know what they intend to do next.”

I nodded, taking in the advice. This time, I barely let myself get back into position before I tried again, aiming to jab the staff into his stomach. He stepped to the side easily, leaving me hitting nothing and stumbling forward. I recovered quickly though, twisting around and bringing the staff up just a second too late to hold off the tap on my shoulder.

Jido smiled. “You learn quickly.”

“Thanks,” I said, before going to attack him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post this early bc fuck it haha Get ready for some more character introductions next chapter including someone I already adore lol
> 
> Come talk to me!  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	57. Koa

It wasn’t long before my energy was starting to dip, sweat dampening my hair. Jido, of course, looked as cool and collected as ever in his light clothing, an easy smile gracing his lips. “All right there, Karter?” He asked when I paused for a few moments to steady my breath.

“Fine.”

He turned to look where Sulik’s orange sun was beginning to set on the horizon. At the same time, he blocked my strike, swept my foot out from under me, and sent me tumbling back. “Perhaps we should stop. It is getting late and I am sure you must be growing hungry.”

My stomach growled at the reminder of food, causing Jido to chuckle. “Guess I could eat.”

Jido ruffled my hair, laughing softly. “Come. I’ll take you to the best eat-place in the capital.” He began to lead the way back through the garden but stopped short as another Sulikie approached. “Prince Komea,” he said, bowing low.

The Sulikie prince was wearing armor similar to Jido’s, but brighter and more ornate, with a short, shimmering cape flowing back behind him. He had similar features to the previous Sulik people I had met, but his skin was slightly more greenish in color and in certain places seemed to look more like fish scales than proper skin. He nodded at Jido’s bow. “Greetings, Jido. I had hoped to find you here.”

“Is there something you need of me?” Jido asked. The easy smile and joking voice were toned down, giving Jido a sudden, serious air around him.

“It’s Koa,” Komea said. Jido’s jaw tightened. “He’s snuck out again. I figured that he would come looking for you.”

The remaining signs of the laughing Jido vanished as he scanned the immediate area, being tall enough to see over most of the plants. “How long ago?”

“No more than ten minutes. Leenka sent Tarn and Yearce out looking for him immediately before coming to tell me.” Komea sighed. “I’m sure he wouldn’t leave the grounds, but there are still plenty of ways he can get into trouble here.”

Jido smirked bitterly. “Well, there’s only so much he can do from the bush over there.” He turned towards the bush in question, hands on his hips. In a louder voice, he said, “Koa, we’ve talked about this.”

The bush, a thick mess of large, dark purple and blue leaves, rustled as a very young Sulikie stepped out from behind it. The top of his head came up to maybe my elbow and he seemed to be mostly long gangly limbs. His eyes were a brilliant gold and seemed huge in his small face. He was wearing simple cloth clothing, the first Sulik I had seen not wearing some type of uniform or armor. “Hi, Jido,” he said, smiling hopefully at the Daulian the same way my cousins did when they knew they were in trouble and thought being cute would help get them out of it.

The look on Jido’s face said that there was no escape for him. “Koa, you cannot keep running off every time you don’t want to do something.”

Koa pouted, crossing his arms. “But I saw you training out here and I wanted to watch. I never get to watch anymore.”

“You have lessons to attend now. You cannot waste time watching others train,” Jido said, not unkindly. A softer smile had formed on his lips and I could practically see his resolve melting away. This kid had him wrapped around his finger. “I can speak to the queen about finding time for you to take a break, but only on the condition that you stop this habit of yours.”

The young prince smiled brightly. “Really?”

“You have to promise though,” Jido said.

“I promise. I’ll be really good!”

Jido rubbed his head, chuckling. “I’m sure you will.”

Komea shook his head though he was smiling. “Come on, Koa, I’ll walk you back inside.” He held out his hand for Koa to take.

“No, I want to stay with Jido.” Koa clung to Jido’s leg. “Just for a little longer? Please?” he begged, looking up at the royal guard.

The Sulikie shrugged, looking at Komea. “I would not be against watching him for a little while.”

“Hmm. I wonder why he keeps sneaking out to find you,” Komea mused aloud, looking directly at Jido. Jido only smiled apologetically as if to say _What can I do?_ “I will inform Leenka of his whereabouts. Please make sure he is returned to his room _before_ his sleep time.”

“Of course, I will,” Jido said, sounding almost offended that Komea would doubt him. Next to him, Koa giggled. Komea only sighed again and walked away. “Right.” He turned towards me, blinking for a moment as he remembered I was there. “Perhaps I could show you the eat-place another time?” He glanced down at Koa and back up to me.

I smiled, understanding what he was getting at. “That sounds fine.”

Koa peeked around Jido’s legs, gaping up at me. “Are you the rebel?”

“Yep, that’s me.” I smiled down at him. “My name’s Karter.”

“Do you fly a spaceship?”

“Not usually. I did coming here, but normally one of my teammates is the one piloting. I run the weapons systems.”

Koa’s eyes somehow became even bigger. “Have you ever been in a battle?”

“A couple.”

The prince completely stepped out from behind Jido. “That’s so awesome! What was it like? Did you almost die? Did you take down a bunch of ships? Did you win? You won right?”

I laughed at the onslaught of questions pouring out of the kid’s mouth. “Alright, alright. Slow down, Koa,” Jido scolded. “Karter will answer, but you must give him time. Come. Let’s get a snack and find somewhere to sit and speak.”

“Okay!” Koa grabbed my hand and began dragging me towards the palace. I laughed, letting myself be tugged by the surprisingly strong child. “Let’s _go.”_

“I think he might have a new favorite person,” Jido said in a low voice, smiling at the happy, impatient prince. “Perhaps we will have to steal you away from the rebels.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayeee I'm back!! I haven't fully decided what days I'm going to be updating this, but hopefully it'll be pretty regularly. (I'm now regretting not writing as much as I could have when I wasn't updating) 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy reading this and I hope to reach the end before summer's over!
> 
> Tumblr: jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: jacksonofabitch


	58. The Queen

It was nice being around Koa, even if it was just for a short time. He reminded me so much of my young cousins. For a while, I forgot about the war and my mission and all the pressure that was being put on me.

Of course, it all came rushing back as soon as I laid down to sleep that night, but at least for a few moments, I had peace.

The next morning came far too quickly for my liking and I felt exhausted when Tren arrived as he said he would. From the look on his face, I doubted that I looked much better than I felt.

“Was the bed not to your liking?” Tren asked, concern written all over his face.

“No, no, it was great.” It was honestly the softest bed I had ever been on. “I’m just… nervous. About later.”

Understanding filled his eyes. “Ah, of course. Don’t worry, Karter. I’m sure everything will go well… At least, you won’t be executed or anything. That’s what I’m here for!” He smiled brightly. “Now, let’s get started…”

 

_I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine._

I wasn’t fine, but there was no time left and there was no turning back. I was standing behind the immense door that led into the Grand Hall where the Queen met with people. Two guards stood before the door, but otherwise, I was alone. Tren had had to return to his other duties after coaching me, but he said he hoped he would be able to meet me after the meeting.

 _If I don’t die of a heart attack first,_ I thought wryly to myself.

Taking a deep breath, I began to mentally recite everything Tren had told me that morning. I had barely even begun when within the Hall there was a flute-like sound and the guards were opening the doors. I was ready to cry, but instead, I began to walk forward, keeping my back straight and trying to look as confident as I could.

I should have listened to Milo and just stayed at the base.

The Grand Hall truly was grand. It extended back into the gardens, so the roof and walls were mostly made of glass, held up by thin golden pillars that reminded me of the branches and stems of plants crawling up the walls. The roof had several different glass colors, creating puddles of colored like on the floor.

The Queen of Sulik sat at the far end of the room on a slightly raised platform. On either side of the platform were arranged in a half-circle were several more chairs for her advisers and other members of the court. Two guards stood on either side of the throne and, as I walked closer, I realized one of them was Jido.

 _Oh, good, there_ is _someone I know here to embarrass myself in front of._

I stopped at the last set of pillars before the throne, close enough to be heard without having to shout but far enough that I didn’t pose any sort of threat. All of the chairs were filled and everyone was looking at me with interest, but I kept my gaze focused on the queen.

Her golden dress of a fine, silky material flowed out around her, elegant yet simple with few ornaments meant to keep it in place. The queen’s eyes were gold like Koa’s, made brighter by the gold of her dress as they stared me down. While she was small and petite by Sulik standards, her gaze commanded no less respect and somehow it was both reassuring and terrifying.

“Your Majesty,” I began, reminding myself to speak loudly and clearly despite my nerves, “My name is Karter Terrance, from the planet Earth, which was recently taken by the Thearns. I come on behalf of the rebel alliance seeking the aid of your planet.”

“I have heard much about you, Karter of Earth,” the Queen said. “You do understand that I nor my people have any interest in joining in this war with either side, correct?”

It wasn’t unexpected, but it still hurt. I only hoped it didn’t show on my face. “I have heard this many times.”

“Yet you still came? Do you think you are any greater a diplomat than those who have come before you and failed?”

“No. I definitely don’t believe that. I know it is not true and I know that there is little hope of convincing you, but—” I cut off, unsure if it was wise for me to continue on. I swallowed hard. _What do I have to lose?_ “But I had to watch my planet be taken from me without being able to fight for it. I have seen people risk their lives for even the smallest chance of beating back the Thearns, of keeping just one planet out from under their control. Every rebel I have met is willing to take any chance they can in the hopes of gaining freedom from the Thearns. And while I knew that this may be hopeless, I had to try as well.”

There was a heavy silence when I stopped speaking. I could see the courtiers glancing at each other out of the corner of my eye, but still I continued to look at the queen who held my gaze. She seemed less stern now, a hint of something else beginning to soften the corners of her mouth. And then it was gone.

“You have many things to say on behalf of the alliance I see, but that it is not all I am interested in,” the queen said with the air of brushing away the previous topic. “You have had quite the journey to get where you are. Tales of a magic ship and ancient weapons, that is what I am curious about. Please tell me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” I said. As my heart sank, I began to recite everything that had happened since I was forced away from Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuses. Sorry. Have a chapter. I'll try not to disappear for another two months.
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	59. Calm

Jido found me several hours later, moping in the gardens. “It is nothing to be disheartened about, Karter. You spoke well and true, and you should be proud of that.”

I shrugged, not looking up from the ground, watching a strange alien worm crawl out from under the bench. “It still didn’t work.”

“Yes. And it may be difficult for you to return unsuccessful, but that is part of what makes heroes brave: doing what we must in the face of hardship.”

“You sound like a fortune cookie.”

The warrior paused, frowning in confusion. “I do not understand what cookies have to do with wealth, nor with what I just said.”

“Never mind.” I looked up at him, mustering a half-smile. “I guess I should probably head back to my ship now. Got to get back to the rest of my team. I’m sure I’m already in enough trouble with them as it is.” Standing, I brushed myself off and began making my way back to the palace and the city beyond.

Jido caught my arm. “Perhaps a little longer will not hurt? If you already believe that your team is not pleased with your absence.”

“You literally just said that I should go even though it’s difficult.”

“Yes, but there is no need to go _now._ ” He smiled widely. “Come. I promised to show you my favorite eat place.” Without letting go of my arm, he led me along the path, allowing for now argument. Helpless to resist, and definitely lacking the will to, I allowed myself to be swept away.

It was easy to forget that there was a war going on, a war that I needed to return to when everyone around me seemed to at ease and relaxed. Since the day Earth fell to the Thearns, there was nothing else to think of _but_ the war and the rebellion. I had been surrounded by it at every moment, but the war didn’t exist here. And I wasn’t sure that was such a bad thing. Sure the Queen would be helping the rebellion by joining, but what would the cost on the planet be if she did?

 _Not so bad that I failed then,_ I thought, as Jido and I left the eat-place, full and content. The sun was still high in the sky overhead, just beginning its descent to the horizon.

“Well, Karter, are you not glad you stayed?” Jido asked, clapping a heavy hand down onto my shoulder. “Think of what great food you would have missed!” He laughed loudly, startling several reptilian-like birds from a nearby tree.

“Yeah, it was great. Thank you for showing me it. I wish I had more time to explore the city. I feel like I didn’t get to see any of it.”

“So, you will have to return and see more. I am sure you will always be welcome.”

“I’ll have to bring the rest of my team with too. I think they’d like it here.” The sudden thought of Charlie interacting this polite race of aliens made me cringe. “Well, Emic and Zion would like it.” _We’ll leave Charlie at home._

Jido smiled widely. “I hope I will have the chance of meeting them. And the chance of seeing you again is very delightful, of course.”

I turned my head to stare at the ground ahead of us, hiding my warming face. I was spared from having to respond by a very distressed, young servant dashing from the palace towards us. “Daulian Jido!” she gasped when she came into earshot.

“Yes?” Jido asked, shoulders and back straightening as his tone turned serious in a heartbeat. It was so strange watching him turn from an easygoing guy into this perfect soldier who would defend their charge at all costs.

The servant hesitated a moment, eyeing Jido up and down, before speaking, “I’m afraid Prince Koa has not been seen since his morning meal. The palace has been searched completely but he has yet to turn up. There has been no sign of any foul play, but it seems as though he has vanished…”

She drifted off, staring, as Jido brushed past her, steps sharp and efficient as he walked to the palace. I jogged to catch up, joining him as he walked through the palace’s main hall, scanning the people and branching corridors without stopping. He continued on to the garden where I had first met the young prince.

“Do you think he was looking for us?” I asked, struggling to get the words out. Keeping up with Jido’s long legs like this was exhausting.

“Perhaps.” Jido’s voice was tight, clipping the word short. He seemed a bit more frantic in the way his head swiveled back and forth, scanning the shrubbery for the child. I was beginning to feel somewhat panicked as well. After all, how could the prince possibly get away from all the guards and people in the palace without being seen for so long? Unless someone didn’t _want_ him to be seen…

We were reaching the end of the gardens now, where the plants began to grow wilder and the path narrowed and was littered with leaves. A small building was huddled between two overgrown trees, nearly invisible in the dark shade. The door was open and that gave Jido reason to pause.

He stared at the open door, as still and tense as a cat considering pouncing on a mouse. Jido smoothly reached for his spear from his back, walking forward with silent footsteps. I reached for my own staff tucked into my belt and followed behind him slowly, taking care to be as quiet as I could.

Jido slowly stepped inside first, scanning the small room for enemies before continuing in. Once my eyes had adjusted to the darkness after the noon light outside, I realized it was something like a garden shed, filled with alien gardening tools leaning or laying on many shelves.

“Koa?” Jido said. The harsh emotion and suddenness of his voice startled me. I turned to stare at him, finding that his expression had gone from anxious to something much closer to anger. “Koa, we have discussed your little games. Get out here.”

From behind a large pile of what looked like regular dirt, a small figure crept out. “Jido,” Koa said in a tiny voice, “I’m sorry—”

“Clearly you are not,” Jido snapped. “You have been told repeatedly not to sneak off and yet here you are. Are you not aware of the trouble you cause each time you do this? The worry and fear you create in the people who care about you?” Koa said nothing in response, only seeming to fold in on himself, becoming even smaller. Jido let out a long breath. “Come,” he said, his voice softer. “It is time to go back.”

For a moment, I was sure Koa would refuse, would kick and scream all the way back like how my cousins did when they failed to get their way. But Koa straightened himself up and walked forward with all the dignity suited for a prince. As he stepped into the light spilling from the open doorway, I could see the glistening of tears running down his cheeks, but his expression was calm and determined.

_He is his mother’s son._

Jido looked worn out as he followed Koa out, seeming to have aged ten years in the time he spent in the shed. I followed after him, nearly bumping into him as he stood mere steps from the door.

“What is it?” I asked, following both Jido and Koa’s gaze up to the sky. I didn’t need to hear their answer. I had seen it happen before.

The Thearns were invading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, Saturday is the goal for posting rn. Let's hope it continues to happen
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	60. The Res-Crew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not sorry for the pun in the chapter title.

“We should be coming up on Sulik now,” Emic said, looking up from his monitor at the bridge’s main screen.

“Great. Let’s grab that shit and go.”

Zion sighed. “Charlie, _please_ at least act like you like your teammates.” He turned to Emic. “Can you send a message through to the communicator Milo gave Karter to let him know we’re coming?”

“We should also inform the Suliks that we are coming as well. They do not always act kindly to surprise visits,” Izar advised. “While Karter would likely not have been treated with suspicion in a small, unarmed ship, remember that we are in one of the universe’s most dangerous and powerful weapons.”

“I’ll send a message to the planetary defense asking for permission to approach then.” Emic’s fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed up the message. He was nearly finished when a red alert popped up on the screen. “Uh, they just sent us a distress signal?”

“What?” Zion asked. The rest of the crew turned to look at him.

Emic squinted at the message. “They’re under attack. Thearns. They’re attacking the royal palace.”

“That’s where Karter would be,” Milo said. Fear and regret filled his eyes. “Charlie, hurry.”

The human teenager said nothing as he sped up, the ship rocketing towards the planet. “Emic, coordinates for the palace.”

“Getting them. I’m going to try and track Karter’s communicator once we get in range. We’re still too far out for me to get an accurate reading.” He paused, looking up. “We should be in sight of the planet now.”

The bridge of the DayBreak was silent as the ship approached the planet. Hovering above its atmosphere was by far the largest Thearn ship any of them had ever seen, rivaling the size of Sulik’s small moon. It was a hulking black mass, rows and rows of guns and weapons lining its sides and hundreds of smaller ships buzzed around it like tiny flies.

“My God,” Zion whispered, awed and terrified at the sight of it.

“We have to fight that?” Emic squeaked out, turning desperately to Zion, praying he would say no and that they would turn back.

“We have to get Karter. We have to help that planet.”

Charlie made a sound of disgust. “We can’t do shit without Karter. That’s the whole point of coming here.”

“What do we do then?”

Zion stared at the ship, mind blank. “I—I don’t know.”

“Zion, it’s time to make a decision. It won’t be long before that ship notices us,” Izar said. “Do we press on or do we go back without Karter?”

“I—I’m—I’m not sure.” His eyes looked around frantically, moving across each crew member’s face. “We need Karter. But we can’t get fight that ship without him.”

Charlie rolled his eyes, turning back to his controls. “Then we won’t fight it. I’ll get us to the ground. Emic, tell me where I’m going and make sure Karter knows we’re coming and to be ready.” The ship, which had been slowly drifting forward during this time, suddenly jolted back to life, darting forward.

“Wait!” Emic cried out. “The ship! It’s moving.”

As they watched, the buzzing around the ship vanished and the engines roared to life, turning it slowly away from the planet. For one dreadful moment, they were afraid the ship was coming for them, but then its main engines flared and it began moving away.

“What was that about?” Zion asked. “It didn’t seem like they really invaded the planet at all. They certainly couldn’t have taken it over that quickly. Not with just one ship.”

“It was a big ship,” Charlie shrugged.

“It was still only one. And it would have taken much longer for them to gain complete control over a planet.” The older human rubbed his hand down his face. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe they saw us coming and decided the planet wasn’t worth fighting with us?” Emic said, a hopeful tone creeping into his voice. “I mean, we have destroyed quite of their ships already. Maybe they didn’t want to risk it.”

Zion considered it for a moment. “Maybe. I still don’t trust it though.”

Izar looked at him curiously. “Do you think it may be a trap?”

“No. It’s just… something doesn’t feel right.” He shook his head. “We should use the time we have to get Karter. Charlie, let’s go.”

“Finally.”

They landed quickly, not far from where the royal palace stood. When the Thearn ship had left, it had abandoned a number of ground troops in the city, and the battle was still raging. Zion, Emic, and Charlie departed the ship, leaving the two Lacareans to guard the ship. Emic was carrying a tracker that was locked onto Karter’s communicator signal, which seemed to be coming from somewhere in the palace.

Quickly, the three moved through the streets, dispatching Thearns as they went, though it didn’t seem like the locals were truly in need of much help. The Sulikies were fighting fiercely against the invaders, several with makeshift weapons that had simply been near them when the attack started. Many of the Suliks turned to them, seeming ready to attack, before recognizing them as an ally. Most of them would run off to fight alongside their comrades, but a few stayed with the group of rebels, moving ahead of them almost like an escort to the palace.

The closer they got to the palace, the fiercer the fighting got and the more bodies they found, of both Thearn and Sulik alike. At the palace gates, they met the center of the battle. A ring of Sulik guards was before the gates, a pile of the Thearns already at their feet and several rows of more attempting to attack them.

As they watched, one warrior, in particular, seemed to be dropping Thearns left and right, though it was difficult to tell in the confusion. Then the crowd parted, and the trio saw a slim Sulik wearing, torn armor that had once been ornate and beautiful, two curved, silver blades twirling in his hands in a hypnotic dance of death. He moved with grace and power that belonged more on a stage than a battlefield and each one of them was struck still and silent, unable to do anything but watch.

And they watched as a Thearn broke through the line behind the Sulik and prepared to attack him from behind in what would have most certainly been a mortal blow.

And they watched as the Thearn fell dead, a sniper blast having torn through its chest.

The Sulik glanced back at the Thearn, having finally noticed that it was there after it had fallen. He turned back, eyes the color of a calm ocean locking almost instantly on Charlie’s as the human lowered his gun. Something passed between them for a moment, and then Charlie turned away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited (and mildly sorry) for what's going to happen in the next chapter :D Stay Tuned!!
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	61. I'm Sorry :(

The battle ended somewhat uneventfully. The sounds died down somewhat naturally and then there was an almost unnatural silence that settled over everything. The Suliks quietly got to work, gathering up the injured to receive medical attention while others removed the bodies strewn across the ground.

A group of Suliks in military dress approached the _DayBreak_ ’s crew. “Who are you and how have you come to us?” the leader asked.

“We’re from the rebellion,” Zion answered. “We were on our way to pick up our teammate, Karter, when we received your distress signal.”

“Karter?” one of the soldiers spoke up. “You are part of Karter’s crew?”

Relief settled onto Zion’s face. “You met him?” The alien nodded. “Do you know where he is now? Was he fighting somewhere else?”

The Sulik shook his head. “I have not seen him since before he met the Queen this morning. I believe he was planning on leaving not long after, but I don’t think he was able to.”

“Tren, escort these three into the palace. Help them find their companion if possible, but they are not to leave the palace for the time being.” The leader smiled sadly. “I hope you understand. This is a very chaotic moment for us. I would prefer not to add to by allowing strangers to wander freely. It could incite an incident with some of the more easily excited residents.”

Zion nodded. “I understand. We don’t want to cause any trouble for you.”

“I hope that Karter is okay.” Masl paused for a moment. “He seemed a very brave man if a little impulsive. Very polite.” He moved off, shouting orders to soldiers around him.

“Please follow me then,” Tren said. He moved swiftly through the palace gates and into in the palace itself. Gunfire had marked the front of the grand building, but its grandeur was still enough to slow the three rebel’s paces as they stared up at it in wonder. Tren chuckled. “Karter had a similar reaction when he first arrived.”

Charlie scoffed, and the other two expected him to make some snarky comment about being compared to Karter, but the teen just crossed his arms, looking off to the side as they walked into the building.

A large crowd of people was gathered in the main hall. Medical stations had been set up along its length, while stands holding food and drinks were spread around. The noise level of the room was low, given the number of people there. There was something in the air, something foreboding, setting everyone on edge.

Tren wove through the crowd, scanning for any signs of the human he’d come to consider a friend. “Eddge,” he called softly, waving at another guard. “Have you seen the rebel diplomat?”

The guard stared at him, confusion plain on his face. “Haven’t you heard? The prince is still missing.” Tren stiffened. “Daulian Jido is also missing. There are rumors that they may have both been…” he drifted off, unable to even say it out loud.

“But have you seen Karter?” Charlie snapped, his voice harsh in the soft fragility of the room. Nearby Sulik’s turned to stare at them. “We need to find him so we can hurry up and leave.”

“Charlie,” Zion warned softly. “Lower your voice. That’s not going to help anyone.”

“I—I saw the rebel,” a soft voice spoke up. A young female Sulik approached them. “I was the one who told Daulian Jido that the prince was missing. He and the rebel were headed towards the gardens to look for him. I—I don’t know what happened to them after that. The attack started not long after…”

“Thank you, Kuya,” Eddge said, patting her shoulder reassuringly.

“Do you think it’s possible that Karter and this Daulian guy could have found the prince?” Emic asked. “They might have just hidden somewhere when they saw the attack starting.”

Eddge nodded. “I’m sure the Queen will be interested in this information. If you will follow me please.”

He led them to the other end of the hall where a line of armed guards stood before a beautiful Sulik woman as she consulted with her advisors. Her demeanor was calm and collected as she gave out directions for where supplies and help were to be sent. Her golden gaze lit down on the group of rebels like a weight. “You are Karter’s crew.”

“Yes, ma’am. Uh, Your Majesty.” Zion was spared from having to figure out if he was supposed to bow or not by Eddge stepping in front of him.

“Your Majesty, I have just heard that Daulian Jido and the rebel were heading to the gardens to search for the prince.”

“The gardens,” she repeated thoughtfully. “He does have a penchant for hiding there…” She drifted off, looking around the hall while wringing her hands. “Daulian Yas, please have a squadron of guards search the gardens. _Thoroughly._ Look for anything that might help lead us to what happened to my son.” She turned away, returning to whatever matter she was discussing with her advisers.

“This isn’t helping us find Karter,” Charlie muttered, low enough so only the other two rebels could hear him. “They’re all too focused on their precious prince.”

“If Karter found the prince, then helping them find the prince helps us,” Zion said back. “Emic, are you getting anything from his communicator location?”

Emic pulled out the device he’d set to track Karter’s communicator. “It hasn’t moved since we landed. It still says he’s somewhere in the palace, but if he was surely, he’d be here, but—guys it’s moving!” He squeaked out, attracting attention from the Suliks. “He’s getting closer.”

“Where?” Charlie asked, looking around the room.

“It says he should be right on top of us…” Emic looked around as well, frowning when he didn’t see the smiling human. “Maybe the signal is getting mixed with something…”

Just as he began to put the device away and the Suliks turned away, there was the sound of a loud click from below them, and a trap door opened out of the floor just beyond the ring of guards. Instantly, a dozen guns were pointed at the hole, all ready to fire at the slightest movement.

“Stand down,” came a demanding voice. A Sulik’s head appeared from the darkness. “Unless you want to be banished for shooting the head of the royal guard.”

“Jido,” the Queen breathed out. “Jido, did you—do you—”

“I have him right here.” The Sulik disappeared back down and then a young Sulik was lifted through the hole and into the arms of one of the other guards.

“Mother!” he cried out, squirming from the guard’s hold and running to his mother. She kneeled down to hug him tightly, whispering sweet words into his ear as they held onto each other.

In the meantime, Jido had pulled himself up out of the floor. Fully revealed, he was impressively tall even for a Sulik, but that wasn’t the first thing they noticed. He was covered in blood.

“Jido!” the Queen cried. “What happened?” She turned to call for a medic, but he dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

“It’s not mine,” he said. The words fell heavy on those around them. He turned, eyes locking onto the crew of the _DayBreak._ Slowly, he held out his open hand. Resting on his palm was Karter’s communicator, stained red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol he dead
> 
> Smuirpunk, don't forget you said good to this. you said /good/
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	62. Answers

“We need to get Koa to safety,” was the first thing Jido said, turning his gaze from the swarming ships above to look gravely at me. “To the palace.”

I nodded. “Let’s go.”

Jido scooped the child into his arms without another word and began to stride swiftly towards the palace. I had to jog to keep up, keeping my eyes out for any sort of attacks. It was slower going than our journey out, with Jido carefully leading us through the gardens on a path that mostly sheltered us from the sky above. I belatedly realized that he was trying to keep from attracting the attention of the ships above.

We had made it only a quarter of the way back before we began encountering Thearns.

The first group was only a small party of five surrounding a large courtyard, guarding a pickup and drop off zone. We stumbled straight into them, not realizing it until we were surrounded. The first Thearn came in from my right, reaching for his weapon as he approached.

My staff practically leaped into my hand, extending as I swung it upwards, striking him cleanly across the head. He fell back, giving me time to attack again, this time hitting him squarely in the chest, the staff sending out a strong shockwave that sent him flying back into the bushes.

As I turned back to check on Jido and Koa, something white-hot sliced through the back of my left calf. I cried out, swinging the staff blindly in that direction, feeling it hit something. Jido caught me as I fell forward, keeping me on my feet.

Through the pain, I squinted around us. Three Thearn bodies lay on the ground before us: Jido’s work, with Koa standing nearby, watching us. The fourth Thearn, the one that had attacked me, lay in a messy heap to my left, smoke rising it from where the staff had burned it. Slowly, I looked down at my leg, shocked at how much blood had already spilled from the cut.

“Karter, can you walk?”

“Dunno,” I mumbled. Cautiously, I leaned away from him, putting pressure on my injured leg. I bit down on my lip to stop from screaming. “Shit,” I breathed out, watching as more blood poured out.

“Here, let me.” Jido quickly tore a strip of cloth from his clothing and crouched down. “Once we get back to the palace, we can fix it. We need to get moving.” He tied the cloth around the wound. “That should help with the bleeding.”

I nodded, not sure how steady my voice would be. Jido locked eyes with me, a swirl of emotions hidden in them, none of them hopeful. As I hobbled forward, using my staff as a walking stick, I huffed a little laugh. “Guess this is what I get for not listening to you. Should’ve been paying more attention to my surroundings, huh?”

Jido’s face held no humor in it as he smiled, saying, “Guess I’ll have to hammer into you once this is all over.”

From that point on, it was even slower. Each step was agony for me, and I couldn’t help but think that Jido could easily take Koa and run for the palace. It wouldn’t be too hard for him to make it. Yet neither of them suggested it and their determined expressions kept me silent.

Jido led the way with Koa walking between us. Now that we knew there were Thearns in the gardens, Jido was taking no chances on us being caught by surprise. After the first group, we never encountered a group larger than three, and none of them expected us to come from behind, making them quick work for Jido. I was amazed at the beauty and grace with which he wielded his spear, amazed at how certain his movements were.

As we reached the shadow of the palace, it became clear that the Thearns had learned we were there. A large force was waiting for us at the edge of the gardens, blasters ready and aimed at the surrounding plants for any signs of movement.

“How do we get through?” I asked Jido in a low voice. We were crouched behind a large bush a fair distance away from the Thearns. Koa sat between us, a fist clutching my sleeve like a lifeline. “Should we go around?”

“It’d take too long.” He glanced at me, scanning down to my injured leg. The cloth he wrapped around it was soaked through and I was sure I didn’t exactly look like I was okay. “And we don’t know where other Thearns may be. This is likely a backup force while the main force is storming the front.”

I studied the group of Thearns closely, looking for some way that we could get through. “A distraction to get them to leave?”

“It’d have to be a big distraction to get all of them. We don’t have the resources for that.”

“I could get their attention,” I said. Koa’s hand tightened as both Suliks turned to stare at me. “You need to get Koa to safety. I’m sure if they think you guys are still with me, they’ll send at least most them after me. You can make it through the rest and get inside before they realize what’s happening.”

“No.”

“Jido—”

“No,” he repeated firmly. “There’s a better plan.”

“You have one?”

Jido frowned. “Not yet, but—”

“We don’t have time, Jido.”

“We can figure this out without you needing to die—” He cut off, looking back at the Thearns.

A group of Suliks had just run out of the palace on the opposite side of the Thearns as us, weapons raised and armor flashing in the light. I barely had time to react before Jido had grabbed both me and Koa in his arms and began running headlong for the palace.

He kicked in a door and dashed inside, just in time to avoid a blaster shot that struck inches behind his head. Jido turned down several hallways, eventually ducking into a room. He somewhat carefully dropped us on the floor and turned to shut the door, locking it.

“We made it,” I said. My head was swimming, and I was suddenly aware that I had likely lost an alarming out of blood already.

Jido turned to face us, face drained and his armor stained in my blood. “Not yet. We don’t know how much of the palace the Thearns are in control of. We must reach the Queen and the rest of the Daulian. They have likely collected in the center of the palace, where the main stronghold is.”

“Do you think my mother is still alive?” Koa said, speaking up for the first time since the ordeal had begun.

The Daulian looked at him levelly, and with complete certainty said, “It will take much more than an army of Thearns to get through the Daulian, and she herself can take out plenty more. She is alive, Prince Koa. Do not doubt her resolve.”

Koa nodded, letting out a little sigh. “How do we get to her?”

“Carefully.” Jido turned back to the door, pressing his ear against it. “With luck, the Thearns may not have followed us insi—” he froze, squinting slightly. “Fuck.”

“Wh—” The Sulik held up a finger, silencing me. We all strained to hear what was happening out in the hallway. Slowly, the sound of footsteps became clearer, coming closer. Soon they were just outside the door and none of breathed as they came to a stop.

I prayed that they would keep moving, or that it was someone friendly.

They didn’t, and it wasn’t.

The pounding of the Thearns working to break the door down echoed around the room.

“What do we do?” I asked, keeping my voice low though it seemed pointless now. “Fight?”

“The tunnels,” Koa said suddenly. “There should be one…” The kid began searching along the back wall of the room, exclaiming happily as he found the switch. A small hatch opened in the wall. He smiled shyly. “It’s how I’ve been sneaking out…”

“We’ll discuss it later.” Jido strode across the room, looking down the long tunnel. “You know how to navigate through them?” Koa nodded. “Good, let’s get going. Koa, go first.” Jido turned back to me, pausing when he noticed I wasn’t moving towards the tunnel. “Karter, let’s go.”

“Here,” I said, digging my communicator out of my pocket, having finally remembered that it was there. “Contact my team once you two get safe.” Jido took it, staring at it before glancing back up at me, eyes wide as he realized what I meant. He opened his mouth to protest, but I shook my head. “Go. I’ll only slow you down.”

Jido refused to move, gripping the communicator tightly. “Karter, no.”

The pounding was growing louder, the door beginning to shake. “Jido, we don’t have time. You need to take Koa and go.” I smiled, trying to look braver than I felt. “It’s okay.”

“Karter,” Koa said softly.

“Bye, Koa. Be safe, okay?”

The Daulian still hadn’t moved, staring at me like a deer in the headlights. “You can still—”

“Jido,” I snapped. He straightened. “Go. Do your job. I’m doing mine.”

Finally, Jido turned away. “Go on, Koa. Get moving. I’m right behind you.” Jido glanced back at me one last time. “Karter.”

“I know.”

Jido nodded, turning and heading down into the tunnel. The hatch closed behind him, leaving no trace of where they went.

Sighing, I turned back to the door that was now rattling weakly. It wasn’t going to hold much longer. I gripped my staff, feeling it expand without looking. I kept my eyes on the door.

 _Sorry, Milo, guess I failed._ Faces flashed in my mind: Emic, Zion, Charlie, the rebels. Finally, my mother and brother. I never did find out what happened to them. More than anything I wish I just _knew._

The door fell in with a loud crash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might go back to updating twice a week now that im writing chapters more consistently :D
> 
> Question: would anyone be interested in supporting me if I made a patreon account? Idk what special things I would offer, but i imagine early access to chapters and maybe a look into the background of the characters/ world-building that doesnt always make it into the stories.
> 
> Let me know!  
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonofabitch


	63. Charlie No

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie yes

“Charlie, slow down,” Zion ordered, marching after the human teen as he made his way through the city back to ship. “Charlie, there’s nothing we can do.”

_The door was a wreck when they arrived, scratch marks and cracks cutting into the wall around the frame. Zion was almost afraid to go inside and Emic was already hanging back from the group, but Charlie barely paused to look at, walking into the room. Jido stopped outside the door, the tall Sulik seemed barely able to even look at the destruction, scared of what he would find._

Milo looked up from where he was reading something on the couch in the lounge room. “Charlie? What’s wrong? Did you find Karter?” He watched as Charlie walked past, turning back to look at Zion. “Karter?”

Zion shook his head, face grim as he followed after Charlie.

_“He isn’t in here,” Charlie called from in the room._

_Confused, the rest of them went into the room. The spare of furniture that had been there was turned over and pushed away towards the wall, no doubt from when the Thearns had stormed in. A pile of bodies laid in a circle in the center, all belonging to Thearns._

_“How can he not be here?” Jido asked._

_Zion scanned the room. “Look at the marks,” he noted, pointing out the tracks in the blood on the floor. “Something was dragged out of here.”_

 “Emic, what happened?” Milo asked, hoping the Kathian would answer him.

The pink alien looked up at him from where he had been staring something small and red in his hands. “They took him. They took Karter.”

_“What’s thi—” Jido broke off, bending down and lifting something small out from under a piece of wrecked furniture. He paled as he stared down at it before slowly showing it to the others. “It’s Karter’s staff.”_

_“Maybe he dropped it and ran from the Thearns,” Charlie suggested._

_Emic’s breathing suddenly sped up. “No. No, no, no. He couldn’t have just left it here. He_ wouldn’t.” _He looked to Zion, a desperate gleam in his eye. “Zion, how could he leave it behind?”_

_“He might have,” the older human said carefully, “if he thought he wasn’t going to be fighting anymore.”_

Milo watched breathlessly as Emic slowly walked past him. “No.” He rushed after them, running up the stairs to the bridge just as he felt the ship take off. Izar met him in the hallway, looking confused. “Karter was taken.”

“Why would Thearns take a captive?” Izar asked as they entered the bridge. “They didn’t take over the planet. Taking someone would only cause them to slow down. Are you sure he wasn’t simply left somewhere else?”

“Don’t talk about him like that,” Emic snapped.

Zion glanced at him before turning his attention to Izar. “We followed their tracks. They definitely took him.”

“So where are we going?”

“To get him,” Charlie said as if it was the most obvious thing. “Emic, can you track the ship that left?”

Emic started typing on his console. “I can try. It would have been easier to do it just after it left.” He stopped, looking up at the other crew members. “He was on that ship, and we had no idea. We just let him go. We could have stopped them—” He broke off.

“We had no way of knowing,” Zion said.

“Emic,” Charlie said. “Find the ship.”

“Right.”

Zion glanced between them. “Wait. We can’t just go charging off after the ship without a plan.”

“There is also a low possibility that Karter is even still alive.” The other four stared at Izar, the tension in the room growing. “Chasing that ship is a waste of time. We should return to the rebel base and assist with their evacuation.”

“Izar…” Zion said. “We can’t know for sure.”

“So, you think it is a good idea to chase after him?” Izar shook his head. “You know that it is as pointless as I do.”

Zion stared at him for a long moment before speaking. “Emic, track the ship. We’re going after Karter.”

“Zion, you are blatantly disregarding facts and endangering this ship,” Izar said. “Charlie, return us to the rebels.”

“Izar, you are not in command of this ship. I am.” Zion stopped the alien’s protest with a look. “I respect that you disapprove of this choice. Does anyone else have a complaint against it?” The bridge was silent. “Alright. Then let’s go. Emic, Charlie, you have your orders.”

Emic’s console beeped. “I found it. Charlie, I sent you the course.”

“Let’s go get that fucker,” Charlie said, pushing the control sticks forward. “Better still be alive because I’m gonna kill him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol how many times do i kill karter in the next few chapters??? too many. someone take him away from me pls


	64. Charlie NO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie pls i beg of you

It didn’t take long for the _Daybreak_ to catch up with the large Thearn ship. It didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry, thought its course did catch the interest of Emic.

“It seems to be heading back to the Dalrai system.” Emic glanced at Zion. “Do you think its planning on attacking the rebel base?”

Zion watched the large ship grimly. “Let’s hope we can stop it before we get there. Charlie, maintain the current distance from it. We need to go in with a plan.”

“It is a pity that the one who ran the weapons systems has been captured,” Izar commented offhandedly from where he was leaning against the wall at the back of the bridge. “Of course, that would never have happened if he was not allowed to run off so carelessly.”

“I did what I believed was for the best,” Milo said.

“And now the worst is happening.”

“Enough,” Zion ordered. “What happened, happened. We can discuss it later, but right now we need to focus on getting Karter back, so unless you have a _helpful_ suggestion, please don’t say anything.”

The room stayed quiet for a long moment.

Charlie scoffed. “Here’s an idea: we rush in, board the ship, grab Karter and get out.”

“We would be spotted and shot long before we got close enough, we have no idea where the ports on that ship are or where Karter is being held, and by the time we figured all of that out and got him, the ship would be completely surrounded and we would likely be shot dead.” Emic looked over that the others. “Did I miss anything?”

“There is no indication Karter is alive,” Izar added drily.

“He’s alive,” Zion said. “I’m sure of it.”

“Then he is likely being tortured for information on the rebels. We should return to the base on Dalrai and inform them before the Thearns can arrive.”

Emic glared at him. “Karter wouldn’t give up information easily.”

“Then they kill him when they realize there is no point. He does not come out well in either scenario.”

“Which is why we’re going to save his sorry ass,” Charlie snapped. The ship sped up suddenly. “Emic, find Karter.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“Scan for human life signs? Can’t you do that?”

“Charlie, we don’t have a solid plan yet. Slow down and take us back before they spot us,” Zion snapped.

“We have a plan, and it’s not like anyone’s going to come up with anything better.” Charlie sighed before continuing in a slightly calmer voice. “We’ll skip the actual port and just go in as close as we can get to where he is in the ship. If we can get him fast enough, we can shoot our way out.”

“Charlie.”

“He could be dying, Zion.” The teen turned around to look at him directly. “Right now. And we are sitting here bickering about what to do.”

“Humans are too rash,” Izar noted. “I cannot fathom why the ship would elect to choose such a rash race to man it.”

Charlie rolled his eyes, turning back to face the front. “Fuck off, Izar. Not everyone can be the driest piece of alien toast in the universe.”

“We’ve been spotted,” Emic said. “I’m working on scanning the ship, but I can’t promise anything. It looks like there’s a lot of biosignatures on board.”

Zion watched as a crowd of small ships began to flood out of the main ship. “Milo, you worked on  Thearn ships before. Where on the ship are they likely to be holding Karter?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen a ship like this.” The golden alien studied it closely as they approached. “If I had to hazard a guess, I would say prisoners are more likely to be held closer to the bottom of the ship. Likely more towards the back near the engines. It can get uncomfortably warm there, and the Thearns enjoy making their prisoners uncomfortable.”

“Good. Emic—”

“Focusing the scan there first.”

Charlie frowned as the first of the small ships reached firing distance and began shooting. He guided the ship away from the line of fire, but there were many more ships already beginning to attack. “Get ready for a rough ride, guys.”

The ship dove and rolled and turned as Charlie frantically tried to keep away from the attacking ships while still managing to move towards the main one. There were so many, it was like fighting through a swarming wall of them. While the _Daybreak_ had a difficult time, the Thearn ships were struggling just as much not to hit each other and many were not lucky enough to escape danger.

“Emic, anything?” Zion asked after several tense moments. He kept his voice low, trying not to distract Charlie from piloting.

“Not ye—” He cut off with a gasp. “I found him! He’s there! He’s alive!” A flashing red alert suddenly came onto Emic’s screen. “What? There’s some sort of energy building up at the top of the ship. I think it might be some sort of massive weapon.”

“Where’s Karter?” Charlie demanded to know.

“The Thearns have locked onto us,” Emic said, ignoring Charlie’s question. “We need to get out of here. If we can’t shake them off moving like this, then we’re not going to be able to dodge whatever it is they’re going to fire at us.”

“Emic, where is Karter?”

Zion grimaced, looking between them. “Charlie, back out of the ship’s range. We know where Karter is now. We can wait for them to think we’re gone and then attack again.”

“Karter might now have that long,” the other human snapped. “We’re getting him _now.”_

“Charlie, we are going to die if we don’t go now,” Emic cried out. “I want to get Karter back as much as you do, but we _can’t do that if we’re dead.”_ He paused, staring up at the screen. “He wouldn’t want us to die for him.”

“So we’re going to let him just die for us, huh?” Charlie said softly. His movements slowed for a moment, and Zion and the rest truly thought that he was going to retreat. “He ain’t going to one-up me. Not like this.” Charlie shoved the controls forward, sending the ship hurtling towards the Thearns.

“Charlie!” Zion and Milo shouted together. Emic could only watch as the ship grew closer and closer until he was sure that they were going to crash.

And something no one expected happened. The Thearn ship blew up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol bye Karter
> 
> Been meaning to post this for like the past four days, but.......... Anyways, if you like my hero academia and especially kiribaku, pls check out my newest story "You're a dream, i'm a nightmare" which gets daily updates bc im procrastinating literally everything else
> 
> Tumblr: @jacksonofab1tch  
> Instagram: @jacksonabitch


	65. A Man Inside

_I stumbled back, darkness creeping around my vision before I managed to steady myself, taking in a deep breath. The Thearns seemed endless. I had already defeated many, but they kept pouring into the room, surrounding me on all sides except for behind. I swiped at the nearest one, hitting it, but the force of it sent the staff spinning out of my hand. It collapsed and rolled away, lost under the feet of the Thearns._

_A Thearn grabbed my arm, and then another grabbed the other arm, pushing me down to my knees until I couldn’t move, couldn’t continue fighting. It was so hard to hold my head up, but I wasn’t going to die staring at the floor. I wanted to see it coming, I needed to._

_A pair of long, thin legs approached me, and I slowly dragged my gaze up to stare at the alien looming over me. She wasn’t a Thearn, though she wore a similar uniform. Her hair was a long tangle of purple and her skin was green. She studied me briefly with colorless reptilian eyes, before her thin lips twitched into a smile that showed razor-sharp teeth._

_“Bring him.”_

 

I woke with a gasp, sitting up. The echo of terror still filled my body, and for a moment I thought that the whole attack had simply been a nightmare. However, the dull pain in my leg said differently. It didn’t feel as bad as it had before and looking down I found that the fabric of my pants had been cut away and my leg had been bandaged. I couldn’t remember anything that had happened after the Thearns had come into the room. _Did Jido come back?_

Looking around for him, I found nothing but blank metal walls and a door. A dim violet light came from a single spot on the ceiling above me. It didn’t look very Sulik, but I hadn’t exactly toured their hospitals. I slid off the metal table I had been laying on, gingerly testing out my weight on my injured leg. It didn’t hurt too bad. I could walk for a little while at least.

The floor was cool and smooth beneath my feet as I made my way to the door. It slid open silently, and part of me was surprised that I wasn’t trapped, though I couldn’t quite figure out why. The hallway beyond was dimly lit with the same metal walls and violet lights as the room.

“Hello,” I called out, keeping my voice soft.

There was no answer. I looked down both sides of the hallway, finding that there was no difference between the two of them. Shrugging, I began making my way right, praying that I would find a familiar face soon.

The silence of the ship was unnerving and the farther along I got, the more and more I felt like something wrong was happening. I reached a corner and was surprised to find there was a bright light shining around it. As I got closer, squinting slightly from having been in the low light for so long, I realized there were voices as well.

I was ready to simply walk around the corner and greet them, when something held me back, telling me to see who I was greeting before. _Probably going to look like an idiot doing this,_ I thought to myself as I crept along the wall. I peeked around the corner, spotting two people standing at a terminal a little ways down the hall.

Thearns.

I was on a Thearn ship. I had been captured.

The last few moments before I passed out came to me in a rush. I covered my mouth with my hand as my breathing sped up, panic setting in. My throat felt like it had closed up and my chest ached as my lungs heaved, trying to get the oxygen flowing again. I felt the urge to flee, to run and hide and fight, but at the same time I couldn’t move, I was stuck.

Trapped. Captured.

 _The team will come for me,_ I thought. _The rebels will have heard of Sulik getting attacked. Milo knows where I went. They’ll figure it out._

Another voice rose from the back of my mind. _They won’t find you in time. They probably already think you’re dead. You should have kept the communicator, now you have no chance of contacting them at all._

I shook the thoughts from my head. I needed to focus on the right now and what I could do. If the team came to save me, that was great, but for now I had to figure out how to contact them or the rebels and to escape on my own.

I walked back the way I had come, avoiding the Thearns. Now aware that I was onboard an enemy ship, I moved a little more slowly and carefully, listening hard for any signs of Thearns coming my way. To my surprise, I encountered very few, and always in lit corridors. _Saving power?_ I thought. The ship did seem quite extensive. Using low lighting for areas not in use would probably help conserve power.

After some wandering, I came across a computer terminal. Glancing down the hall in both directions, I stepped in front of it, praying that I wasn’t about to set off an alarm. I pressed a button and waited for anything dramatic to happen. Nothing did.

I squinted at the screen, trying to make sense of the letters. While the _DayBreak_ had given us some weird ability to read and understand alien languages, it didn’t always make the most sense and what I was reading now seemed a jumble of random letters and numbers. I spent the next few minutes poking around, seeing if I could find anything useful.

Just as I was about to leave, the screen changed and a schematic of the ship came up. I was right in thinking the ship was large, but I hadn’t even come close in how big the actual thing was. I frowned at the minuscule yellow dot that represented me. _This isn’t going to be easy._

It looked like there was a set of different settings next to the map. I clicked one and a multitude of purple dots appeared on the map. The majority of them were in the upper or front halves of the ship, leaving a whole quarter of the ship somewhat bare. I was beyond relieved to find that I was well within that quarter.

Another button showed green dots, all of which were located in the bottom, rear quarter. “Prisoners,” I said to myself. And there were quite a few of them as well.

I realized then that I had found what I needed to get out of there.

Help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy what will you do karter
> 
> Announcement!: I have made a ko-fi account! Please feel free to support me and my writing at the link below:
> 
> http://ko-fi.com/jacksonofabitch
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	66. Escape Plans

A little more time at the terminal got me a rough location of where the ships were stored. At least, I hoped that’s what I was looking at.

I started moving towards where the prisoners were kept, keeping my bearings as best I could. It was difficult, considering nearly every corridor looked exactly the same as the rest. Eventually, I came across a hallway with doors at regular intervals, each one with what looked like a locking mechanism on it. It certainly looked like where they would keep prisoners.

Approaching one door, I wondered if I was actually making a mistake by causing a mass breakout, or if I was wrong and I was about to walk in on a massive Thearn gun-cleaning party. I took a deep breath. _One way to find out,_ I thought as I reached out to the keypad. I pressed the large button and the door slid open with a hiss.

Inside were shadowy forms that rose to their feet when they saw me. “Who are you?” came a raspy voice. “Don’t look much like a Thearn.”

“Thearn reject, maybe,” came another with a harsh laugh.

“No, no. I’m not a Thearn. I’m with the rebels,” I explained quickly as the shadows moved forward menacingly. “I’m trying to free you.”

An alien stepped into the light and I immediately recognized the metallic skin of a Lacarean. “Free us?”

I nodded. “Well, I was working on escaping too, but I figured it’d probably work better with more people, especially if they know more about space travel and all that. I’m kind of new to it.”

“What kind’ve rebel ain’ familiar with space travel?” said a short and stout alien.

“Long story.” I looked down at the long corridor of doors. “Look, I know where they keep their ships and how to get there, so will you help me free everyone else and we can all go?”

The Lacarean looked around at his fellow inmates before nodding. “We will help you.”

They spread out quickly, opening doors and explaining the plan as quickly as they could. From there, we made our way lower, collecting a few more prisoners on each level until the group totaled around 100. It was hard to keep them all quiet, and I was glad that so few Thearns were around to notice that the prisoners had all escaped.

“The ships should be in the bay at the end of this corridor,” I said. I peeked around the corridor, spotting two Thearns standing guard before the large door. “Shit.”

“What is it?” asked the Lacarean. “Is something wrong?”

“Guards.” I chewed on my lip, trying to think of a plan. “Listen, I’m going to go around to the other side and try to distract them. As soon as they leave, get everyone through that door as quickly as you can. You need to get everyone out before they realize what’s happened.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll slip away and hide somewhere. It’s a big ship. They can’t search for me everywhere. I’ll wait for it to calm down again and I’ll make my own escape.” I nodded as if to reaffirm that I could do that. “Listen, once you get out, please contact the rebel base on Dalrai, ask for the crew of the _DayBreak._ Tell them you saw Karter on this ship and that he probably needs some help.”

“Dalrai, Daybreak, Karter. I understand.”

I glanced at the surrounding group of aliens, smiling weakly before turning to start heading back the other way to make my way around. The Lacarean grabbed my arm before I could make it far. “What is it?”

“How will we get away once we are out?” he asked. “I don’t believe that many of us have combat pilot training, and this ship must have thousands of ships to attack with. We may make it to the ship, but we will not make it far.”

I frowned. “Good point.” _We need a bigger distraction._ “Listen, no one will know you guys have escaped yet. They might not check inside the bay. Once you get into the ships, don’t leave immediately. I’ll try to get their attention enough that they won’t notice you leaving. In fifteen minutes, take off and fly as fast as you can away from here. Don’t stop or trying anything fancy until you know the Thearns aren’t coming after you.”

“Yer one nutty kid,” said the squat alien. “Yer gonna die doin’ this. Ya could’ve just gotten out on yer own without us.”

“I’m one person. You guys are a lot more than that.” I squared my shoulders. “’Sides, I don’t plan on dying just yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol its been a minute guys but here i am

**Author's Note:**

> Alrighty, kiddos, it's NaNo time! Get ready for daily updates and hopefully a complete novel. Most chapters will be much longer than this one as it is only a prologue. I hope you will all enjoy this story and support me until the end!!!
> 
> Feel free to contact me on IG @jacksonofabitch or on Tumblr @jacksonofb1tch or just leave a comment below. I love talking to people and the encouragement is always super welcome.
> 
> Love you all and have a good day!


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